STEVE Johnson was content to finish in third spot in the inaugural Formula 1000 championships.

In the 10 race series for cars with 1000 engine capacity, the best seven rounds counted and it went down to the wire for the top three positions.

Race 10 was at Millom near Barrow and Steve, in his Nissan Micra, and co-driver Dave Barritt needed a good show.

"It was hard as there was a massive puddle just over the start line. One person went through it and his car just died," said Accrington firefighter Steve.

"We took on some water and that hampered us for around two laps and made it hard and we finished eighth in class and 40th out of around 66 starters.

"The man winning the series Matt Davies had a puncture and came in behind us. It was one of those days. My car is still caked in mud on my drive."

The result pushed Steve down to third spot with Davies finishing second and Paul Bebe leapfrogging them all in the final round with a good show to take the crown.

But Steve got a lot out of the competition - and the day.

"The celebrity rider at Barrow was British Rally Champion Johnny Milner and he took on some water, like the rest of us, but I lent him my spare to keep him in the rally.

"That was good for me and him as it meant he could compete."

Navigator Dave finished third in the co-drivers championship while Steve's daughter Heather - who co-drove in three of the events and marshalled another - also finished in the top ten.

"It has been a fantastic championsip," said Steve. "And it should go from strength to strength. This isn't as expensive as most and is accessible.

"A lot of people are finding rallying expensive and this is way of redressing balance. You tend not to ruin tyres or damage parts on these rallies - although race 10 was an exception. That was the roughest one."

He added: "Our club - the Civil Service Motoring Assocation - has done well this year in a lot of events and a lot of its members are from Accrington.

"We are organising a big night rally covering 180 miles from Clitheroe on 4 and 5 December so it is full steam ahead for that at the moment."