Clive Richards maintained his second place overall in the Autosport Caterham Eurocup following the latest round at the Sachsenring in eastern Germany.

Richards, 42, from Itchingfield near Horsham, was in contention for victory in both races, his Colards Motorsport-prepared Caterham R400 duelling with championship leader Nelson Rowe all the way.

Rowe was second on the grid in his R400 after being pipped to the pole by Luffield Racing's Mark Hum-phrey by three-hundredths of a second. Jon Barnes claimed third from Richards, who was suffering from fuel surge.

With pole position on the outside of the circuit, Rowe found himself ideally situated to charge into the lead at the first corner but he soon was under pressure from Richards, who sliced past after slipstreaming his rival up the pit straight.

Humphrey made a bid for the lead on lap five but he slid wide and struck Richards' car a glancing blow.

This enabled Rowe to regain the front but he was pushed all the way by the recovering Richards, who tried to get back past several times but had to settle for second place.

Race two saw the battle resumed between Richards and Rowe, the Sussex man claiming the lead at the first corner only for Rowe to take control before the main straight and the lap's end.

On lap five it all went wrong for Richards on the fast double-apex left-hander where he selected third instead of fifth and spun into the gravel. He rejoined the action but had to settle for third.

Richards said: "I was starting to get gear selection problems. I was struggling to get third and fifth and it was costing me time."

The Dutch seaside circuit of Zandvoort plays host to the seventh and eighth rounds of the championship next month.

WEST Sussex rally stars Clive Wheeler and Ken Bartram lost the lead of the Castrol Polo Challenge after a disastrous run of bad luck on the RSAC Scottish Rally.

In search of a repeat of their 2002 Scottish victory, Wheeler (Albourne) and Bartram (Hurstpierpoint) set off from Dumfries in good form. They set second-quickest time on the opening stage, just behind the pace set by Finn Jari Laakso.

But the sharp stony surface of the forest stages took its toll on their Polo's tyres and ended Wheeler's hopes. He suffered three punctures in the course of stages three and four, dropping almost nine minutes on the leaders as a consequence, before limping home in seventh place.

Wheeler said: "It has been a question of luck. Sometimes it's with you, other times not and it certainly wasn't with us. We just have to be thankful to have finished and must now concentrate on the next event."

Laakso took the win and now leads the championship, three points ahead of Wheeler. The Polos will be back in action in Scotland on July 4 and 5 at the Jim Clark Memorial Rally.