BROADSTONE teenager Ashley Craig made a steady start to his first full season of circuit racing when he contested the Ginetta Junior Championship at Brands Hatch in front of the television cameras.

After qualifying in a respectable 12th for his two races, the 15-year-old driver was immediately in the thick of the action passing two cars going into the first corner. However, a mistake at the tight, uphill Druid's bend saw him lose ground.

Undaunted, the Corfe Hills pupil fought his way back up through the field to take 13th at the chequered flag.

In race two he made a disastrous start when selecting third gear on the grid instead of first which caused the car to stall, dropping him to last place by the time the cars were on the move.

Fortunately several safety car periods saw Craig profit from other drivers' mistakes and he climbed back up the order to finish 14th just behind Josh Hill, son of 1996 Formula One World Champion Damon Hill.

"The important thing was to finish both races and get them under my belt. There's a long way to go in the championship and I'm still learning how to push the car to the limit," said Craig.

"I think a positive sign is that I was mid-pack and when I did drop back, I was able to move forward again. That means we've got a decent platform to build upon. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be challenging for top six finishes now."

Craig is back in action this weekend at Cadwell Park for the Ginetta Festival.

DREAM START

CHRIS Ball made a dream start to his 2008 season after converting class pole position into victory in the opening round of the Ford Saloon Car Championship at Mallory Park.

Ball, from Bearwood, who contested last year's Ford XR Challenge in his MP McDermott-backed Fiesta, had carried out a number of upgrades over the winter with the help of his father including an engine re-build.

Contesting the lowest engine capacity Group N class in the well supported series, Ball set the 16th quickest time in qualifying, more than a second quicker than his nearest category rival.

He then led his group for the full 21 laps and by the chequered flag had extended his advantage to more than 14 seconds.

KEVIN FEELS THE COLD

COLD conditions scuppered Kevin Slyfield's attempts to set a representative time at the opening round of the MSA British Drag Racing Championship at Santa Pod.

Contesting the Pro Mod category, the Verwood driver was hoping to lower his 2007 times using a new high compression set-up for his 8.6 litre V8 powered 1941 Willys saloon.

Unfortunately the cold track temperatures meant Slyfield was short on grip and each of his three starts had to be aborted as the car bounced off-line. He hopes to rectify the problem and will be looking for warmer conditions at the next round in late May.

DODD SEEDED TWO

REIGNING National Gravel Rally Champion Marcus Dodd from Poole is seeded at number two for the second round of the 2008 championship, this weekend's Border Counties Rally.

Dodd, who won the opening round, Rallye Sunseeker, in his Hyundai Accent WRC, in February should be favourite for maximum series points, his main rival is likely to be Andy Burton in his Peugeot Cosworth hybrid.

Top seed is former British champion Mark Higgins who is giving his Super 2000 MG Sport a shakedown run ahead of the start of the 2008 British championship.

TOP-20 FINISH

BURLEY'S Peter Egerton notched-up another top-10 finish in the BTRDA Rally Series with eighth place on the North Humberside Forest rally.

Egerton had looked to be on for an even better result after setting the second fastest time on the first of the six special stages in his HPM Motorsport prepared Hyundai Accent WRC, but couldn't maintain the pace.

DANIEL'S DRIVE

POOLE'S former Formula BMW driver Daniel McKenzie, who signed a last minute deal to drive for the Fortec Motorsport team in the new Formula Renault West European Cup series, finished 16th in the first round at Nogaro.