Guisborough teenager Dennis Hobbs was in top form last weekend when he posted a fine tenth place in round three of the ultra-competitive British Supersport Championship at a sunny Snetterton circuit in Norfolk.

Riding the brand new SMR 600cc Honda for the first time, the 18-year-old overcame niggling problems with the fuel injection system to qualify in 13th place.

That left him just one place and one tenth of a second outside the cut for the important Superpole event, which would have seen him get one lap against the clock to try to move up the grid.

However, the Armstrong Motorcycles of Middlesbrough-backed rider made a great start in the race from row four and was soon dicing with the riders ahead as track conditions improved.

But fuel starvation problems led to the Honda losing power on the long straights and Hobbs had to settle for tenth place after 20 tortuous laps, his best ever result in the series.

Another local ace performing well again was Darlington rider Mark Burr, who once again scored two solid finishes in the British Superbike Championship races aboard his Hawk Racing 750cc Kawasaki.

The 20-year-old followed up an 11th place in the opening race with a 12th in race two, but scored more important privateer championship points to lie in tenth place after six races with another 20 to go.

But there wasn't such good news for two of the region's other competitors, who both failed to see the chequered flag in their respective races.

Having qualified the Tillston's Honda in a brilliant 11th place, Hutton Rudby's Russ Hodgson was hoping to continue his good form, having scored points in the opening two races in the 125cc British Championship.

The 19-year-old got a dream start from his row three position and was lapping with the leading bunch when the Castle Eden-backed machine seized at over 100mph as they started lap two.

Hodgson managed to keep control of the machine and retired, but was disappointed at the mystery component failure which robbed him of potentially his best result to date.

The day was also a disaster for Leyburn rider James Brackenbury, who was having his third outing in the British Junior Superstock Championship aboard the Auto Moto Scott Leathers 600cc Yamaha.

Still coming to terms with the machine, the 17-year-old qualified towards the rear of the grid. But his search for points was thwarted when, despite charging through the field, he slid off at the 90mph Riches corner on lap 11 of the 18-lap race.

Brackenbury was uninjured in the spill but his machine was extensively damaged and his team have only a few days to source parts and rebuild it in time for the next round of the series at Oulton Park in Cheshire this weekend.

l Despite some of the big names being missing due to the clashing British Championship races at Snetterton, the Auto 66 Club managed to put on a great day's racing when the Bank Holiday Spring National road races took place at the Oliver's Mount circuit near Scarborough last weekend.

Leading the way out of the local racers was Scotton sidecar ace Greg Lambert and his passenger Neil Langrick who managed a pair of second places aboard their 600cc Molyneux Yamaha in the Formula Two Sidecar events.

After deciding not to contest the British Championships for financial reasons, Guisborough rider Charlie Topham was back in action aboard his 125cc Honda for the first time in over six months and promptly got back into the groove by scoring two fourth places.

Middlesbrough's Dave Woolams was another rider in good form when he took a seventh place in the 600cc and the veteran followed up with a creditable 13th in the open class Spring National event.

Under the guidance of former Scarborough winner Paul Mackley and making his debut at the circuit was Northallerton businessman Darren Grimstone, who followed up a 17th place in the Spring National aboard his Electrocare 250cc Yamaha with an 11th place in the junior event.

l The first major British Championship Rally since the outbreak of the foot-and-mouth epidemic gets underway this weekend when four local crews tackle the Rapid Fit Rally of Wirral tomorrow.

Having replaced the original forest events that were scheduled, the rally takes place on the closed-roads tarmac seafront at New Brighton near Wallasey and hosts rounds of the Peugeot 106 Cup, Ford Ka Championship and Ford Puma Championships as part of the fledgling Formula Rally series.

Expected to lead the way in the Peugeot Cup is Castleton driver Ryan Champion who, along with co-driver Cliff Simmons, took a series of top ten positions in local events at the turn of the year in their 106 Gti. Durham drivers Guy Wilks and David Henderson will be going head to head for Ford Puma honours in their identical 1400cc cars after strong showings last year.

Northallerton's Ian Windress once again teams up with Henderson while Wilks - now recovered from his road accident in Sweden back in February - has recruited the services of the experienced Welshman Clive Jenkins to bolster his bid.

In the Ford Ka series, Scorton driver Stephen Petch makes his competitive debut at the age of 17 and has the experienced John Richardson from Northallerton alongside.

The first of the 85 cars leaves the start at 8.30am to tackle ten stages around the twists and turns of the promenade with the finish expected at around 6pm.