TEENAGER Matt Griffin fulfilled a boyhood ambition when he contested the Bulldog Rally – and finished third in class.

“The rally was based around some of the classic Welsh forest stages of Dyfant and Dyfi,” said Matt, 17.

“These are stages I’d been to as a spectator with my mum and dad years ago and always hoped to compete on.”

Matt and co-driver Joe Cruttenden, from Rochdale, were seeded at car 135 in their Shrophire Rallyschool one-litre Nissan Micra, which brought problems of its own, as he explained: “The rally was last round of the MSA National Gravel Championship, and consisted of the national and clubman categories with nearly 150 competing in total.

“We were in the clubman category, which ran at behind the nationals, and also at the back of the clubman category!

“With 134 cars running ahead of me, some of the corners had huge ruts in the track and it sometimes felt like the car was running on rails.

“It was a new experience running at the back, as the clubman crews usually run at the front. But I enjoyed myself, and finished third in class and 66th out of 90 in the clubmans which was very satisfying.”

The result leaves Matt, who is studying for a national diploma in motorsport at Myerscough College, third overall in the Formula 1000 Forest Championship.

He is unable to compete on the final round, and looks to end the season in fourth.

* Matt Griffin would like to thank John Goff and the Rallyschool team (www.rallyschool.co.uk) for the use of their car and the preparation.