Ross Whittock, from Midsomer Norton, is celebrating after finishing second in his class and 59th overall in the Wyedean Rally, in the Forest of Dean.

The rally is the first round of the BTRDA Rally Championship and started with 165 competitors in a range of cars. Ross, 22, who works for Sirona and is based at St Martin's Hospital, in Bath, said: "I was co-driving for experienced rally driver, Phil Harris, from Plymouth. We were in a 1,300cc Daihatsu Sirion in the Rally First Class.

"This class is for lightly modified cars, where the engine and brakes are standard. The Wyedean is known for being a fast rally, but has a very slippy surface which is why it has a lot of sideways action, happy competitors and worst of all, crashes.

"I've had a lot of training from my dad, who used to be a professional co-driver. It is all about the timing, read too fast and the driver forgets the note, too slow and you could end up in the trees. We were very pleased with the result, as we weren't expecting to have a top three class finish. We had a scare on stage one when, about five miles in, we were inches from hitting a pile of logs. Our overall result means the hard work and preparation has paid off. We hope to compete on the Somerset Stages, based in Minehead in April. A full season of BTRDA would be good, but it's hard to get the budget together."