BLACKBURN star Ross Worswick had another weekend of mixed fortunes in the Formula Renault BARC Championship at Snetterton.

Racing under the pseudonym Rossi, for his family-run Worswick Engineering team, the 18-year-old retired after hitting a spinning car in round seven, but hit back to finish second in round eight.

After qualifying in fourth on the Saturday, Rossi (pictured) and third placed Aaron Steele both made good starts to challenge for the lead. At the first corner, Steele took a tight line and spun directly in front of Rossi leaving the teenager no chance of avoiding contact and forcing him out of the race.

Sunday's round eight saw Rossi again qualify well, securing another second-row grid slot. Getting away cleanly, Rossi dived to the inside of Sung Hak Mun at Riches to take second place behind round seven winner Dean Stoneman.

As the front two began to build a lead, a red flag brought the race to a halt to retrieve two stricken cars.

At the re-start, with Rossi lining up second on the grid, the two leaders ran side by side towards the first corner as Rossi made the slightly better start before slotting into second place. The two leaders were quickly able to establish a lead over the rest of the field but Stoneman was a fraction of a second quicker each lap to edge away.

By the midway stage of the 12-lap race Rossi trailed by 1.3s with the gap reaching just over two seconds by the chequered flag. Rossi is now fifth in the drivers' standings but just four points away from a top-three finish with four races left.

Rossi said: "After a non-finish on Saturday, it's great to come back and finish second. I got into second on the first start and then got almost alongside Dean on the re-start but couldn't quite get through. I came back later in the race but Dean was too far ahead to challenge for the win."