Rockingham Speedway was the location of the finale of the Dunlop Great and British MINI Challenge 2008, where Andover girl racer Dawn Boyd clawed back some hard earned points.

She finished eighth, seventh and sixth in the final three races and survived a half spin in the wet, and gained enough points to achieve joint second place in the girl’s trophy.

It has been a disappointing season for Dawn, with the first race bringing a broken gearbox and a crash, which seemed to blight it from the start. Pembrey provided good places then a crash at Croft and a fuel leak at Castle Combe before Donington, Brands Hatch and Rockingham saw her finish with no damage. Dawn still managed to finish 16th overall out of 39, ninth in class out of 17 and joint second in the ladies’ trophy and thanked her supporters, including Rustlers, Mini Pirate and Nicky Grist.com.

Happily she has booked her place in another championship and now owns a MkII 1990 Golf Gti, the original 'hot hatch', and Golf Gti racing is confirmed for 2009.

Dawn says:”It’s just as much fun, even faster, but only half the money, so it was an opportunity not to be missed.”

It is another one make series with two classes running together, and with grids of more than 30 is certainly a championship to watch out for.

Once again Dawn is appealing for companies to get involed in her racing, as the fees have come down which is appealing to sponsors as well as racers. Contact her at Dawn@dawnontrack.co.uk or see her website.