THIS weekend, Croft Circuit will reverberate to the rousing sounds of 600bhp monster machines as the British Rallycross Championship season finale and prestigious British Rallycross Grand Prix takes place at the North Yorkshire circuit just south of Darlington.

The British Rallycross Championship, in association with the Shannon Group, is enjoying a real period of resurgence, as exemplified by the titanic title tussle currently raging in the headlining MSA Supercar class.

This category, for flame-spitting, ultra-powerful thoroughbreds capable of out-accelerating a Formula One car to 60mph, has witnessed a succession of pulsating encounters throughout the campaign, and four drivers will fight it out for the coveted crown at Croft tomorrow.

The standings are currently led by defending champion Julian Godfrey, but World Championship wild card Andy Scott, series sponsor Ollie O’Donovan and local hero Kevin Procter, from Leeming, are all in hot pursuit, meaning a battle royal is guaranteed. There will doubtless be further high-octane thrills from the likes of Barnard Castle’s Mark Watson in his striking Citroën Xsara.

A similarly spectacular scrap is brewing in the MSA SuperNational class, while Super 1600, Swift Sport, MSA Junior, Hot Hatch, BMW Mini, RX150 Buggies and the ever-popular Retro Rallycross will make for non-stop action. In all, about 70 cars and drivers will contest the events, including many locals.

Sunday sees the stand-alone British Rallycross Grand Prix, with no points at stake, but plenty of pride and bragging rights, and some pretty impressive trophies. Among the star entries will be FIA World Rallycross Championship ace Andreas Bakkerud, who will contest the event in an RX150.

Tickets are still available at the gate, priced at £15 each day. Weekend tickets are available and accompanied children aged 15 and under will be admitted to the circuit free of charge.

For further information, visit croftcircuit.co.uk or call 01325 721815.

COUNTY Durham bike racer Chrissy Rouse battled hard to take eighth in the penultimate round of the Pirelli National Superstock 600 Championship after a tough race at Silverstone last weekend.

The 19-year-old from Burnopfield endured what he described as a "tough challenge" as the series headed to the Northants track for round 11, one he knew would not necessarily suit his Team HARIBO Starmix Triumph.

After qualifying in ninth place, Rouse needed to get a good start, but didn’t get off the line as well as he’d hoped, dropping back to 12th. However, he was determined to fight back and picked off two riders in the opening lap to move up to 10th. There he remained for the next six laps before moving up to ninth on lap seven of the 10-lap race.

Moving up to eighth a lap later, Rouse crossed the line in eighth place, setting his fastest lap of the race, but admitted afterwards he was disappointed with the result.

Also in action was Hutton Rudby rider Neil Bainbridge, who battled his way to 27th place in the Pirelli Superstock 1000 race on his KLM/HBH Kawasaki, but returning racer Barry Burrell, from Bishop Auckland, retired his Prime Factors BMW when well placed.

LAST week, Redcar Speedway hosted one of the biggest events in the calendar when the Premier League Fours Final took place.

The event was originally staged at Peterborough in August, with eight teams competing to be one of the four teams in the final. After the top four teams had qualified, a serious accident involving Newcastle’s Lewis Kerr caused the meeting to be abandoned.

Rescheduled for Redcar, the biggest speedway event on Teesside since 2006 featured Ipswich Witches, Newcastle Diamonds, Edinburgh Monarchs and Somerset Rebels, teams which included most of the top riders in the Premier League.

Edinburgh’s Craig Cook won the first heat, with Somerset second. Heat four was won by Sam Masters for Edinburgh to give the Scottish team the advantage by four points and, at the halfway stage, heat eight saw a win for Ipswich’s Danny King.

The totals were now close, with Edinburgh on 16, Somerset 13, Ipswich 12 and Newcastle on seven. The teams continued to keep this order until heat 11, when Somerset’s Australian rider Josh Grajczonek won to give them a one-point lead. In heat 12, Edinburgh’s Justin Sedgmen failed to score, meaning Somerset stretched their lead to three points.

Sedgmen made amends in the next heat with a win over Grajczonek. Edinburgh’s young German rider Erik Riss scored a spectacular win in heat 14, his only score of the meeting, to level the scores with Somerset at 26-26 with two heats to go. Somerset failed to score in the penultimate heat and Edinburgh’s Masters was third to give his team a slender one-point lead going into the last heat.

Edinburgh’s Cook won the last race, with Ipswich rider King in second and Somerset’s Brady Kurtz third, meaning the final score was Edinburgh 30, Somerset 27, Ipswich 24 and Newcastle 15.