NORTH Yorkshire driver Kevin Procter endured mixed fortunes when he contested round nine of the 2010 FIA European Rallycross Championship at Slomczyn, in Poland, last weekend.

Competing in the Procters Luxury Coaches-sponsored Ford Focus, the Leeming Bar driver saw his weekend start successfully when he took victory in the opening heat last Saturday but things didn’t quite go to plan on Sunday at the track some 50km south of Warsaw.

In the second of the three qualifying heats, Procter was up against a number of top European drivers including Swede Per Eklund and as the pair diced it out for supremacy. The contest became physical to the point that contact was made by Eklund, which broke Procter’s steering rack and that ruled him out.

Into heat three and Procter was again hoping for a good run but a clash with another competitor saw the Kick Energy and www.coach2.com-supported driver ruled out by race officials meaning Procter qualified only for the C Final.

Hopes of progression into the B final were high, however, when he led in the opening stages before the race was red flagged due to an accident which required a re-run. From there, Procter couldn’t quite emulate his earlier start and despite his best efforts, could only manage second place.

As a result of his 12th place classification, Kevin remains in 11th position in the Division One title race.

MORTON-ON-SWALE driver Jonathan Bean enjoyed a successful day at Blyton in Lincolnshire last weekend to wrap up the BTRDA and MDA Supermodified rallycross titles.

Needing only a third-place finish in the final to win the championship, following problems at the previous round at Lydden in his BMW, the Snigwig.

co.uk team changed the engine before the event as a precaution.

On the day, Bean won the first two heats and chose to sit out the third one to preserve the car as he had already secured pole for the final. When the final came around, he led from start to finish to make sure he took the titles with a round to spare.

Also in action was Northallerton driver Dave Bellerby who endured a mixed day in the heats but won the final to extend his lead in the Suzuki Swift championship.

Bellerby’s teenage daughter Paige retired from the Junior A final with clutch problems after taking victory in the heats, and Bedale’s Joe Cunningham rolled his Peugeot 106 in heat two which ruled him out of contention. Fellow Bedale driver Darren Swales made the Stockhatch A final in only his second event and raced to sixth place.

PICKHILL pair Chris Wise and Tracey Taylor West made the trip across to the Wirral for the GEG Promenade Stages Rally held at New Brighton and finished in third place overall.

Despite inclement weather in the morning, the Autogas 2000- sponsored MG Metro 6R4 duo led after the opening stage before finding themselves running just behind the Skoda WRC of John Stone but, later in the day, the weather dried up and they had to relinquish second place also to the Subaru WRC of the Peter Strojanov.

Fellow Pickhill crew Geoff Simpson and Stuart Boynton in their Mitsubishi Evo X finished 29th overall, while Sinderby’s Bill Bates and co-driver Mick Johnson, also of Pickhill, had a steady run with their rebuilt Lotus Exige and had a troublefree run to 27th overall. Eggleton driver Mark Thompson, along with nephew Matt Thompson in the co-drivers’ seat, finished in 20th position in their Peugeot 206.

THE Guisborough-based Swan Honda team returned to the podium at Croft Circuit last weekend as Scotsman Stuart Easton secured two third places at the tenth round of the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship while Cumbrian James Ellison came close to a podium return.

Ellison and Easton were formation flying in the opening race of the day to challenge for the final podium position, but bad luck struck Ellison once again as he was forced to retire with a puncture while battling for third, leaving Easton to grab the podium place.

In race two, Easton made it a repeat performance with his first double podium finish of the season as Ellison was just edged out of the top five by Michael Rutter to finish in sixth.

Also impressing were the local riders in the various support classes which saw Bishop Auckland’s Barry Burrell challenging for a podium in the Metzeler Superstock 1000 race aboard his Buildbase Kawasaki but eventually had to settle for fourth place while Yarm-based South African Allan Jon Venter equalled his best result of the season with an eighth place on his MAP Group Triumph in the Fuchs Silkolene British Supersport Championship race.

Hartburn teenager Richard Ferguson had to overcome a high-speed crash during 125cc qualifying as well as the changeable conditions on Saturday before retiring due to a technical problem in the first race.

Sunday’s sunshine brought better fortune when Ferguson claimed 21st place overall and 10th in the ACU Academy class on his 125cc Honda. Barnard Castle’s Rob Brown finished 19th on his RBR Yamaha in the Metzeler National Superstock 600 race.

SCORTON teenager Max Coates was in action in the Ginetta Junior Championship at Knockhill in Scotland.

Driving the Swaledale Cheese-backed car, the Coates Garage team went into the encounter at the Fife circuit with bags of confidence. Testing didn’t go as planned, however, as the new gearbox broke in the second session, meaning Max then had to run the new gearbox in before qualifying 14th.

Race one was looking bright for Max, as he was catching the group running in 13th. He made a mistake into turn three and locked up all the wheels falling back to 16th before eventually finishing 15th.

The second race was somewhat brighter and Max had a fantastic last lap gaining three places at the last corner to claim an equal season’s best seventh place.