SAM Bilham made the most of a fantastic opportunity by securing second in class R2/B10 and 24th overall at last weekend’s Nicky Grist Stages behind the wheel of the Greenlight Sports and Entertainment Ford Fiesta R2.

The 21-year-old, from Bingley, was offered the opportunity to pilot the front-running machine for a one-off drive in round six of the BTRDA Rally Series in Wales.

He did not disappoint his backers and, along with co-driver Graham Wild returning to the passenger seat, stormed to an impressive podium on his R2 debut.

Bilham has secured a confidence-boosting list of accolades in the sport during the past few years but since winning the Fiesta ST Trophy in 2017, has only managed one further outing.

Wanting to progress his career, the required budget to step up the rallying ladder has not been forthcoming, and he has been unable to secure a drive for the entire season.

However, a drive on Rally North Wales back in March proved fruitful, taking the Vauxhall Adam Cup Car to second in class and gaining valuable experience of a sequential transmission unit, similar to that in last weekend's car.

Despite being unable to test the Fiesta, Bilham wasted no time in acclimatising, slotting into third in class after the opening test of the day.

With the R2 class one of the most hotly-contested in the BTRDA series, Bilham was pleased to find himself second after the opening loop and would look to keep that spot over the closing stages.

As his confidence grew, the stage times tumbled and Bilham began to close in on the eventual class victor, returning a mature drive to net second in class on his debut in the car.

Bilham enthused: “It was a real honour and privilege to have been given the drive by Peter Smith and I'm really glad I could repay his trust with a decent result.

"The car was truly superb and a joy to drive. It felt so natural being behind the wheel and I felt my pace pick up after every stage.

"There was more to come as well so it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if there were a few more stages, but I`m just over the moon with the experience and the result.

“This weekend has just re-affirmed that I need to be in a front-running R2 car to progress. I feel I have the ability to get the most from the car and I’d really like to see what I could do with a full season ahead of me.

"We will be working as hard as we can to get a deal together for the future."

For more information on Sam and his rallying career, visit www.sambilham.co.uk