LEE Sharples got his just reward on the Tour of Mull.

For the Darwen driver collected the Shell 'Best Performance Award' after making up an amazing 111 places during the two-day event.

Seeded at car 137, Sharples and co-driver Sheila Thomson, from the Isle of Man, stormed through the field to finish 26th overall in their brand new Vauxhall Nova GSi.

"Although this was the first time Sheila and I had rallied together, we felt very confident, but we would never have predicted this result," said Lee.

"We had a drama on Saturday afternoon when two of the bolts holding the rear suspension sheared, giving the car a fair bit of rear wheel steer."

"But other than that, the car ran brilliantly all weekend."

With backing from Ovalworld of Blackburn and Seven Acre Garage, and support from LSD Motorsport and Pro-Tec Performance, Lee and Sheila are gearing up for a challenge on next year's Safety Devices National Macadam Rally Championship, aiming for success in the Formula Two, A6, Junior and Mixed Crew categories.

Their next event will be the Apex Cheviot Stages in February.

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