SOUTHAMPTON rally driver Steve Hendy began the new season in style with second place in the Tour of Cornwall.

The double national champion is bidding for a third title in the GPR MSA National Asphalt Rally Championship and is confident he can do it.

Driving the Hendy Group-supported Ford Escort WRC, Hendy was in the thick of a competitive battle for first place with just seconds separating the top three at the finish.

Salisbury 17-year-old Ross Curnow gave the Promatecme/Soper Sport team a podium finish in their first ever race in the Formula BMW series. Curnow was second in the opening championship round of the season, then followed up with fifth place.

New Forest driver Justin Keen will be part of an impressive three-man line for Lister Storm in this weekend's 1000km race at Spa.

Joining him in the LMP900 will be Jens Moller and the newest signing, former British F3 champion Jan Magnusson from Denmark, who won the Le Mans GTS class in a Corvette last year. Keen is spearheading the Lister challenge in the FIA GT Championship and took ninth place in the first round at Monza.

Eastleigh racer Shane Kelly is going full tilt for the national ARP Championship in 2005 after securing an impressive list of new sponsors.

The former Silverstone Racing School champion, who was third in last year's ARP series, will be unveiling their race car at Southampton's Bargate Centre on Friday and Saturday.

Ricky Cole from Southampton and new co-driver Ryan Hooker were sixth in the first of the British GT races at Donington Park. Ferrari were the class of the field and the Kinch/Kirkaldy Ferrari 360 took a comfortable victory.