MINI man Steve Johnson snatched success from the jaws of defeat in his final autotest appearance of the year.

The Accrington driver joined 20 north west regulars for Bury Automobile Club's competition at Spring Street car park for the last major autotest of the year.

Johnson's day started off badly when the bonnet on his T.Blank Tyres-backed Mini 1300 flew off -- forcing him to stop mid-test to put it back on.

A penalty on the second test meant he last in class and last overall after only two runs.

But a tremendous fightback over the following seven tests saw Johnson back up to second in his class, just 14 seconds adrift of class leader Richard Wood, from Leeds.

And by the end of the full 21 tests, he had whittled Wood's advantage to only five seconds to claim an excellent runner-up in class and fifth overall.

Burnley brothers Tim and Bob Sargeant finished second and third overall respectively in their Westfield sports cars, with Leeds driver Dave Mosey underlining his reputation as one of the fastest Mini Special drivers in the country by taking FTD (Fastest Time of the Day).