TEENAGE racer Rob Shield competed in his first major car event last weekend, driving in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship, a support event to the British Touring Cars.

With no testing prior to the event it was always going to be a tall order for 18-year-old Shield, from Cleasby, near Darlington, to match the pace of the experienced field.

It was immediately evident from the start that there was a problem with the braking system on the car and the SWB Motorsport team worked very hard to rectify the problem. With qualifying and two races on Saturday it was an impossible task. Shield qualified 13th and consistently improved his times into the two races finishing 12th and 10th.

With the team working on the car overnight and into Sunday morning the brake issue was rectified in time for the race on Sunday afternoon. Shield made a blistering start immediately making up four places and was into mid field. It was unfortunate that he came off the track and hit a barrier which meant the end of his race.

Shield said: "It's been a rollercoaster of a weekend, if only the brake issue had been solved on Saturday we may have had some good results. I have had a great weekend, not the results I wanted but it's been a good experience to move forward with."