A CLEVELEYS man's driving ambition could lead to small screen fame.

Off-road racer Pat Masters, 32, of Anchorsholme Lane, hopes to appear in a motors series on satellite television's Discovery Channel next year after being interviewed at a race meeting last weekend near Telford, Shropshire.

Pat, a trained mechanic who races Rail off-road cars in his spare time, was approached by motor enthusiast and television presenter Tony Mason as he worked on his car between races.

Pat said: "Tony was walking round interviewing the leading lights. I was working at the back of my car and I turned around and he was just standing there and we got chatting. He asked me about what sort of car it was, and he had a look round it."

The two also talked about Tony's rally experiences and his visit to Blackpool last year to open a motor sports club at South Shore.

Although Pat has never appeared before on television, he hasn't let it go to his head. "I'll probably only be on for a couple of minutes," he said.

He understands his interview will appear in a series of half-hour programmes called Off The Road, about the different aspects of off-road racing.

And he hopes his brush with fame won't end there. He has got together with a team of fellow car enthusiasts, who have applied to take part in a new BBC TV programme, Panic Mechanics.

"I think it's a bit like Scrapheap Challenge, but centred more around cars," he said. "We'll just have to see what happens!"

In the meantime Pat and his racing colleagues, known as Team X, want to build on their success -- which includes a win for the third year running at an off-road event in Holland in May. But Pat admits he is not racing as much as usual at the moment. "I have taken a year out to be a daddy," he said.

Anyone wishing to sponsor Team X can contact Pat on (01253) 854914.