Rounds six and seven of the John Cooper Challenge will take the racers into France for two races at Croix-en-Ternois over the weekend of 10/11 July. If the 2003 French trip is a guide, there will be plenty of tremendously close racing at the tricky circuit.A piece of motorsport history has been created this season, with the first ever races for the exciting new 140mph Works MINI Cooper S. This is the third year of the John Cooper Challenge, which was created to honour the memory of the man who developed the original Mini Cooper back in the 1960s. But for the first time in 2004, the superb Works Cooper S is competing alongside the existing MINI Club Class cars in a two-class championship.Following two speed events to start the season, the drivers moved to races at Donington Park and Castle Combe in May. The racing has been action-packed throughout, with close battles all the way down the field. Now, after a six-week summer break, the drivers are turning their focus to France.Currently top of the S Class is Martin Wallbank after a mighty performance at Castle Combe in tricky conditions. He has edged just two points ahead of Donington winner Arthur Forster, while defending champion Mark Speller is only seven points adrift of Forster. However, for Forster the trip to Croix is a mammoth journey from his base in Northumberland and he faces an eight-hour drive to get the channel ports, followed by another couple of hours drive once into France. Other strong S Class contenders include Andy Sayle, Nick Smith and Rob Holgate, while father and son pairing James and Darren Needham are also in the class.As well as Forster, the north-east is also admirably represented in the Club Class and, after a fine performance at Castle Combe, Gary Robertshaw from Whitley Bay is topping the points. Like Forster, Robertshaw and his team face a long journey to France!Paddy Murray shot to prominence with two fighting drives at Castle Combe and is now tied for second in the Club Class with Graham Parsons. Parsons achieved a major personal ambition with his first win at Castle Combe and will now hop across the channel aiming to repeat that form. Stephen Campbell, Barney Craggs and Jonathan Shepherd are other front-runners in the Club Class.