YOUNG rally driver John Freeman’s hopes of winning the one litre BTRDA Forest 2015 championship were dashed when he crashed in the Shropshire-based Woodpecker Stages Rally.

He was ahead of his nearest rival by over 90 seconds and pushing hard to catch more powerful cars in the class above when the crash came on a narrow section of the fourth stage in the Radnor Forest on the Welsh borders.

He lost out on a tight and slippery corner which had earlier caught out another competitor driving an Opel Manta.

John, pictured examining his Nissan Micra after the crash, had the consolation that the damage to the car was not as extensive as first thought, and that a tree had prevented him from dropping down a 60-foot section to the road below.

Undaunted, John, from Brompton Regis, said: “I would rather push hard and risk crashing than cruise around in order to take another class win.”

Having repaired the car, John and his father Duncan, who co-drives, are heading to the Pickering Showground in Yorkshire today (Friday) for the penultimate round of the championship.