BISHOP Auckland's Barry Burrell earned valuable championship points in the second round of the international BMW Motored Boxer at Le Mans in France last weekend with a fine 12th place finish.

In only his second year in the series - which supports the prestigious Moto GP Championship - the 17-year-old BMW Motorrad Team Great Britain rider followed up his top ten placing at Daytona earlier this season to lead the Young Rider of the Series category.

Burrell found himself stricken by a mysterious illness on race day, so visited the track doctors who diagnosed that he had picked up a virus.

Luckily for Burrell, they decided that he would be fit enough to race and the teenager started from the fourth row of the grid in 16th position.

He made a good start and managed to battle his way through the field to finish 12th despite being completely exhausted. He collapsed straight after the race, but soon recovered after being treated at the trackside.

The BMW Motored Boxer 2004 continues next month, when it will be a support race at six more of the Moto GP rounds. The next round is at Mugello in Italy on June 5 and the winner of the series will drive home in a BMW M3 Coupe.

If Burrell can clinch the youngsters' championship, his reward will be a brand new Mini Cooper.

* After nearly a year off from rallying, Dave Craven, from Redcar, and his long-time navigator Ian Jackson, from Hartburn, entered the John Overend Memorial Rally held at Melbourne airfield near York last weekend.

Never having driven the newly-acquired MSR-prepared Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6, the pair were using the event as a test rally before going back into the forest stages later in the year.

The first stage was 6.5 miles in length using the concrete perimeter tracks and, despite the dust, Craven emerged from the test in seventh place. Some adjustments from the MSR team to the turbo and front suspension paid dividends when Craven stormed through a repeat of SS1 some 25 seconds faster.

Craven eased up to sixth after stages three and four before opting for racing tyres on the clean surface of stages five and six, which resulted in him moving up another place as he got to grips with the car.

Stages seven and eight were the last two of the day and, with some great driving, the pair clawed their way up another place to end up an impressive fourth overall and clinch a class victory.

* After a difficult start to 2004, including a broken ankle, machine failure and then theft of racing equipment at Oulton Park, Stockton's Michael Hill and his TABOO Motorsport team are looking forward to a successful trip to Mondello Park in Southern Ireland this weekend.

The team's new race truck is now ready and the 25-year-old's ankle has been given the all clear, plus he will now have a full-time mechanic working with him for the remainder of the season.

Hill is still struggling a little with fitness and is still looking to attract a few more sponsors to contribute to the £4,000 worth of equipment stolen at Oulton Park, but is grateful for the help already received.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank those supporters club members who have contributed additional funds since Oulton," said Hill, who will be in action in front of the live Sky Sports TV cameras for a one-off televised race on Sunday afternoon.

Also in action at Mondello Park will be Superbike Cup star Dennis Hobbs, from Guisborough, and British Supersport rider Paul Veazey, from Middlesbrough.

Beowulf Suzuki rider Hobbs hopes to compete despite suffering a fractured ankle when he was brought down on the opening lap of the third round of the European Superstock Championship held at Monza on Sunday.

The 21-year-old was injured when Italian Kawasaki rider Luca Scassa crashed and caused three other riders to go down.

Hobbs cartwheeled through the air at close to 120mph before ending up in the protective tyre barrier. He was treated by medics before being taken off for checks, which revealed a fracture to his right ankle.

He said: "Luckily, it's a straightforward break and it's not too much of a problem as it's not the gear-shift side. I'll rest it this week and it should be OK for Mondello Park this weekend once it's strapped up."

* In a bid to get more track time on his HBR Yamaha R1, Darlington's Richie Harrison travelled to Carnaby Two near Beverley recently to contest the Auto 66 Club Championship road races.

With help from the Darlington-based Adrenalin-Moto company, Harrison made his customary poor start in the opening race, meaning he had to once again battle his way through the field.

Despite brake problems due to them not being bedded in properly, Harrison was charging through the field when disaster struck as his gearbox broke on the last lap.

However, worse news was to follow as soon as the unit had been stripped, when they discovered that debris from the broken gear components had infiltrated the engine oil pump, causing it to seize and cause irreparable damage to the 1000cc engine.

The team now face an uphill struggle to acquire further funding in order to prepare the machine in time for the next MRO meeting at Brands Hatch, or to obtain a replacement bike or engine so that Harrison can continue his season.

Meanwhile, another local road racer in a similar situation has managed to secure the services of one of the country's leading tuners to help in his bid for glory this season.

Northallerton shopkeeper Darren Grimston suffered engine failure on his Electrocare Ducati at a recent meeting, leaving him with a hefty bill for a replacement unit.

However, a call to Easingwold-based North Moor Engineering, whose proprietor Stewart Johnstone prepares engines for both the Rizla Suzuki BSB and Renegade Ducati WSB teams, has proved fruitful and Johnstone has agreed to prepare Grimston's machine for the remainder of the season.

"This will hopefully give us the reliability we need to clinch the Auto 66 Club Sound of Thunder trophy and we are indebted to Stewart for his help," said team manager Paul Mackley.