TOMMI Meadows was left to rue a retirement when well placed in the penultimate round of the Junior 1000 Rally Championship in Wales.

The Bowland High School pupil was making strong progress after a solid opening day but his car failed to start before the start of stage 14 on day two and that ended his weekend.

The rally contained stages in the dark on the opening evening bringing a new experience for a number of the young drivers with the championship for 14-17 year-olds.

Meadows set the fifth fastest time of 23 junior drivers on stage two, just two seconds slower than Seb Perez (Nissan Micra) who set the pace.

But the 14-year-old dropped back in tricky conditions on Saturday night with the youngster left to rue a cautious approach in the wet.

“We started day one really well - I was pleased with the pace,” said Meadows. “However I was way too cautious in the dark stages, so we dropped back down the leaderboard. I was a little disappointed although this year is meant to be all about learning and gaining experience.

“Overall results aren’t everything – the best results can wait until next year.”

Meadows began day two in determined fashion and together with co-driver Ian Oakey the duo were starting to climb up the leaderboard before disaster struck with the car not starting.

Despite assistance from parents and mechanics, Meadows’ race was cut short.

He added: “It is unfortunate that the car broke down, however there are a lot of positives to take from the weekend and it's all part of the sport we are in. I’m just happy that we managed to do three-quarters of the event before the car broke down, and we got some decent mileage under our belts.”

Meadows added that Sunday’s showing gave him plenty of belief that he could mix it with the best in the championship, and he hopes to compete at the season-ending round at Blyton Circuit, organised by Clitheroe Motor Club, in three weeks time.

He added: “One of my main focuses for Sunday was my line – I made an effort to try and use as much of the circuit as possible in order to carry more speed throughout the stages.

“I set out to try and get my times as close to Seb’s as possible.

“We are still not getting the absolute maximum out of the car yet and I am sure there are a few seconds we can find here and there, but it will all come with experience and time behind the wheel.”