SCORTON’S Max Coates continued his run of success in the Renault UK Clio Cup, taking both Graduate class wins and a pair of fourth place finishes overall at Donington Park last weekend.

The Primex Plastics and PLASgran Recycling-sponsored driver took pole position in the weekend’s qualifying session, but didn’t make the best start and ended the first lap in fifth place. He passed the fourth-placed driver soon after and began his pursuit of the leaders.

He set the fastest lap of the race and made it a five-way fight for the lead, towing former champion Mike Bushell along. But the race was cut short due to an accident and, despite attacking for a third-place finish, Coates ended fourth and top Graduate class driver.

Coates started from sixth place on the grid in the second race and was hungry for the podium he’d missed out on in race one. Again he was caught up in an early battle with other drivers, but found his way through from mid-race.

A battle to the flag ensued, with Coates fending off Bushell to cross the line in fifth place before the 22-year-old Leeds Beckett sports marketing student was elevated to fourth place due to the original winner being excluded.

Coates comfortably leads the Graduate class and is fifth overall in the main standings going into the next round at Thruxton in two weeks’ time. The second race will be televised live on ITV4 at 3.15pm on Sunday, May 8.

RIPON rally driver Charlie Payne continued his successful start to the 2016 season when the long trip to Somerset for the third round of the BTRDA Rally Series saw him come away with a battling second place.

Along with Welsh co-driver Carl Williamson in the Simpson Hybrid-backed Ford Fiesta WRC, Payne added to his runner-up placing on the Cambrian Rally and victory on last month’s Malcolm Wilson Rally to lead the standings going into the next round in Wales in three weeks' time.

Also making the long trip south worthwhile was Teesside businessman Peter Stephenson, who had Barnard Castle co-driver Giles Dykes alongside in their Able UK-backed Ford Focus WRC. The pair overcame a stall and altercation with a gatepost to finish fifth overall and move up to second place in the championship.

Stanley’s Jack Morton guided Thomas Preston to seventh overall in their Skoda Fabia R5, while the Talbot Sunbeam of Potto’s Andy Davison and co-driver Tom Murphy claimed 38th overall and eighth in class at the Minehead finish. For Hamsterley driver Stephen Petch and Crook co-driver Michael Wilkinson, it was another disappointment as the propshaft failed on SS2 on their WD-40-backed Ford Fiesta R5, meaning a second retirement in a row in the series.

Over in Anglesey, three local crews contested the JC Motor Services SMC Stages and all came away with good finishes. Saltburn co-driver Nick Colman guided Derek Blyth to eighth overall in their Subaru, while the Pickhill father and daughter team of Bill and Kari Bates brought their Tanfield Engineering-backed Peugeot 106 home in 36th overall and eighth in class.

But the story of the rally was the late entry put in by Leeming Bar’s Dave Johnstone after some last-minute car preparation was undertaken at Pickhill co-driver Bruce Lindsay’s Chonka Motor Services workshops. Working through the night, the pair made the start and were rewarded with 17th place overall in their Peugeot 205, just missing out on a class award by a couple of seconds.

EXELBY kart racer Megan Stephenson was in action at the Rowrah track, in Cumbria, recently in the opening round of the NKF Championship.

Following two days of testing, she was getting to grips with the kart and was in confident spirits going into the opening race, for which she was balloted into pole position. The 12-year-old got a great start, but dropped to ninth following a mistake before a fellow competitor shunted her off track. She eventually recovered to finish 18th at the flag.

Megan improved to 14th place in race two and, after a race-long battle in the third outing, she secured a fine 13th place finish, meaning she’d start from 18th on the grid for the final race.

She got another good start and was in the top 10 when she was again punted off the track. With the subsequent bodywork damage penalising her further, she dropped to 16th overall.

Despite her misfortune, Megan holds 15th place in the standings and is next in action at the PFI circuit at Grantham next weekend, when she is confident of improving her results, having gained backing from Northallerton-based Alan Hardcastle Commercials and Taste of India in Bedale.

REDCAR SG Petch Bears’ speedway season was again a casualty of the weather last week as the planned League Cup re-match against Workington Comets was cancelled after both teams and the referee had inspected the track. Despite a lot of effort by the track curator, the referee decided the track was not safe to race and the meeting was abandoned. It will again be re-scheduled.