Sutton Coldfield youngster Andrew Jordan got his bid for the British Junior Rallycross Championship off to a flying start in Northern Ireland over the weekend (27/28 March). After events at two venues, Andrew ended the weekend lying third in the championship having taken a fourth and a fifth place in the two finals.

The 14-year old was competing at this level for the first time, having recently clinched the Junior Winter Series. However, the main British championship offered even tougher competition, with 13 youngsters lining up for the weekend's races in identical Minis.

The two events in Ireland were at Kirkistown (Saturday) and Nutts Corner (Sunday) and were the opening two rounds of the nine-event championship, which will take the drivers to Kent, Yorkshire, Scotland and back to Ireland over the next six months.

"Kirkistown was a really fast circuit," reported Andrew after taking an excellent fourth place in Saturday's final. However, he was determined to score even better on Sunday and was running third in the final when a slight clash with another car dropped him back to fifth. "We were on the pace, so it was a good start to the season," he said. "But I was a bit disappointed not to be on the podium," he added.

Nevertheless, two good results in Ireland represent an excellent start to the season and Andrew will be pushing hard to build on those results in the next round at Lydden Hill (Kent) on Easter Monday (12 April).