SCORTON'S Steve Petch overcame his dislike of tarmac to record his best finish for a couple of years on the surface with a superb top six placing on last weekend's Roush Manx National Rally on the Isle of Man.

Driving the SGP Motorsport Hyundai Accent WRC, and with Northallerton co-driver John Richardson as usual on the notes, Petch gradually climbed the leaderboard on the two-day 110-mile event to secure sixth overall and third in class on round three of the Kumho Tyres National Rally Championship.

The result sees the pair leap up to fourth in the series standings with four rounds remaining, but the other two SGP Motorsport cars on the event both retired.

Steve's son Stephen and co-driver Michael Wilkinson from Tow Law suffered engine failure in their Ford Ka on the final Friday night stage and the Hyundai Accent WRC of Penrith's Paul Bird succumbed to transmission failure three stages from the finish.

Ingleton's Tony Thompson and co-driver Ian Windress from Northallerton suffered niggling brake problems in the early stages of the ultra-fast event before settling for 27th at the finish and fifth in class in their MSR-prepared Tidybike Mitsubishi Lancer, while Harrogate's Paul Kirtley retired on the penultimate stage in his Subaru.

l Fresh from finishing 18th in the National Super Two Championship at Larkhall, near Glasgow, the previous weekend, nine-year-old Scorton kart racer Max Coates was competing at Rowrah in Cumbria last Sunday.

Max had an eventful run through the heats at the circuit near Whitehaven, qualifying in a disappointing eighth place for the final. However, a good start saw Max move up to fifth position on the first lap before getting stuck in traffic and having to defend his position.

As the race progressed, he managed to get through to fourth position by two thirds race distance and, despite being six seconds back from the battle raging for second place, he managed to pull back the gap.

With a brilliant move around the outside of two karts going into the final hairpin, the youngster secured an impressive second place.

The Coates Garage team continue a busy month of racing at the Warden Law circuit near Sunderland this weekend before undertaking the long journey to Llandow circuit in South Wales for the double header in the Super Two Championship over the bank holiday weekend.

* Darlington motorcycle racer Jonathan Harrison made up for the disappointment of a poor opening round of the Superclub CB500 Series last month to bounce back with a terrific set of results at Snetterton in Norfolk last weekend.

Harrison qualified on the front row of the grid for the four championship rounds and, after a great three-way battle with another two championship contenders, had to settle for third in the opening race on Saturday.

But Harrison later rode a mature race to take victory by more than ten seconds.

The battles recommenced the following day with Harrison dicing for the lead in both of Sunday's races, but he twice had to settle for runner-up spot and now lies second in the championship.

l The fourth round of the New Pig Scottish Rally Championship will again be fought out through the long, sweeping and blindingly fast stages of the Cowal Peninsula when the inaugural Garelochhead Coaches Rally gets under way tomorrow.

Based in the normally tranquil and picturesque village of Balloch which hugs the shore of Loch Lomond, the new event sees runaway championship leader Raymond Munro bid for a straight fourth victory, but the Inverness driver faces a full-out assault from a posse of fired-up competitors.

One man hoping the technical gremlins get a hold of Munro is defending champ Barry Johnson.

The Shildon driver has failed to win a round of the New Pig since June last year and he heads to Balloch knowing victory is crucial if he is to stand any chance of retaining the title he won in last year's cliff-hanger.

"To be honest, if I don't win at least one of the next two rallies I might as well throw in the towel," Johnson admitted.

"So far this season Raymond has been just too good and really we're almost already at the stage where we need to have him fail to finish.

"If Raymond wins again then the Scottish Championship is over for me this year".

Having secured a drive in the American Rally Championship round in August, it would be fair to say Johnson could look at rallies in Norway, Finland and Sweden to finish off his season.

Fellow County Durham driver Tony Thompson and Ian Windress from Northallerton will also be making the trip north in their Mitsubishi Lancer, as will Ian Rudd from Thirsk (Ford Cosworth) and Bishop Auckland's Tristan Pye.

The event starts at 10am from Loch Lomond Shores, Balloch, and is scheduled to finish there seven hours later.