MICHAEL West was still smiling despite failing to finish a rally for the fourth time at the Jim Clark Memorial Rally - although it might have been a grimace!

Co-workers at PowerZone and Mini Sport Daniel Barritt and Daniel Harper have been giving him some stick for the last few days after his latest setback.

West and driving team-mate James Smith have endured nothing but bad luck at the Volkswagen Polo Challenge.

The PowerZone of Padiham pair had been forced out of the first three rounds of the one-make series - which runs in conjunction with the British Rally Championship - with an accident, broken suspension and electrical failure.

And now they can add a broken drive shaft to the list after their Scotland trip.

The duo limped out on the seventh stage, after moving from 25th, down to 16th, up to 13th by stage five and then slipped back to 21st.

"We want some points on the board!" said West, as he and Smith are the only pair not to have any points in the Challenge.

They thought the mishaps were over when they survived a scare on Stage five which forced them down the positions.

"We blasted down to a chicane, I tried to calm James down and he out his breaks on, we went sideways and ended up finishing backwards in the chicane!" said West who was competing in the Memorial Rally for the first time.

"We managed to get out of that and then we went over a crest which was 60 yards long in fifth gear, we were going 100 miles an hour, the breaks locked and we went through a hole in a fence that another competitor had kindly made for us.

"But it damaged the drive shaft. It's a new reason for us anyway!

"It is an 18 miler and we tried to limp on and finish the stage but then we came to a steep hill and we couldn't get up it.

"But we didn't just want to crawl along on and come away with a point.

"We are in it to win it. We were fourth in class and 12th overall at the time so we were up there and competitive.

"We got out in front of some spectators and James was heartbroken. I tried to fix it but I couldn't. It is fixed now though!"

He is hoping to now get it right on the Isle of Man.

"We will either go from one extreme to another. If we are going to get it right we will finish in a top three position in class.

"I really enjoyed this rally although the tarmac was fast. it is a phenomenal event and we will be back.

"The Polo Challenge is a new experience for me and James but we will keep trying."

But first he has to put up with the some ribbing the two Daniel's.

"I have to keep taking stick off them but they are two up and coming stars. I don't mind!"