A North-East teenager took an important step along the road to motor-racing stardom at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire last weekend.

Durham's Sean Gaffney has already made his mark in karting, where most of today's Formula One drivers learned their art.

But, on Sunday, he eased into an 1800cc Van Diemen and lined up on the grid for his first race in the British Racing and Sports Car Club's new Northern Formula Ford Championship.

A modest Gaffney admitted qualifying had been a challenge; a summer shower wet parts of the track more than others and a spin put him at the back of the pack for the start.

It mattered little in the end anyway as the car stalled when the lights flicked to green for the first start of the afternoon and the 17-year-old was forced to clamber back out of the cockpit and watch the rest of the action from the pit wall while his machine sat disconsolately on the grass next to the main straight.

However, his misfortune was to prove a blessing in disguise; a closer inspection revealed some of the electrics had been rubbing on the rollover bar and the short had fused several wires into a solid mass.

If Gaffney had managed a clean start, the car would most probably have caught fire a few laps later.

A frantic hour-and-a-half's activity ensured the car was ready for the second start of the afternoon - thanks in no small part to mechanics from a rival team who mucked in to help Gaffney's family-run unit strip out the wiring loom and repair the damage.

And it was a tribute to their work that the teenager survived the second race of the afternoon, even though a pit stop to tape down a loose panel ensured he finished sixth.

However, the result meant Gaffney still claimed five points in his first-ever Formula Ford race backed by Newcastle-based Ceramic Tiles Distributors, with rounds to follow at Oulton Park in Cheshire at the end of the month.

''We have to recognise there were only six cars in the race here today but what we wanted to achieve was a finish,'' said Gaffney's father, Gary.

''Sean's got five points on the board, which puts him ahead of some of the other drivers in the series, and now we have something to build on.

''What with the rain in qualifying and the problems with the car, we have certainly had some challenges thrown at us first time out - but we have to remember it could have been a lot worse.

''We could have had a fire to deal with which could have had far more serious consequences.''