Bingley junior rally driver Sam Bilham finished fifth on his return to the Junior 1000 National Championship stage in South Wales.

After a two month lay-off during GCSE exams, the Nissan Micra driver competed in the fifth-round event at the demanding Caerwent complex.

Bilham found himself in fifth place after stage one, only for trouble to strike three miles into the second stage.

A broken fan belt caused the car to start overheating and meant the crew had to coast the remaining seven miles to the end of the stage and back to service.

The offending part was quickly replaced but the drama had dropped Bilham down to ninth with a loss of over two minutes on the leaders.

Navigator Gareth Hooper demanded a serious push and the crew reclaimed over a minute on the next stage, passing the two cars which had started the 11-mile section ahead of them.

Bilham went on to climb back to fifth and will be back in action on August 18 at Barkstone Heath in Lincolnshire to continue his challenge.