Late retirement dashed the hopes of Sussex rally stars Clive Wheeler and Ken Bartram of an outright Volkswagen Polo Rally Challenge victory.

With Wheeler sidelined, fifth place in the Banbury Rally in Oxfordshire was enough to secure the Polo crown for Lancashire's David Bateson.

Albourne-based Wheeler and his co-driver Bartram, from Hurstpierpoint, went into the rally with a ten point lead over Bateson and were soon charging up the leaderboard.

By the fifth stage they were firmly in control, having set the quickest Polo time on four of the tests. But transmission problems were about to rob them.

Wheeler said: "There was no indication that the car was going to go wrong. It seems it may have been a differential, but we shall have to check that out.

"It's particularly hard given that we hadn't had any mechanical problems all season. But the championship has been good and I've enjoyed it. It has been a good battle with David all year."

Wheeler won £5,000 as his prize for finishing runner-up.

Bateson was meanwhile recovering from an early trip into a ditch which left him languishing in seventh. He eventually came home fifth.

He said: "Winning is a great relief. My nerves are in tatters. I knew I had a chance for the championship when I saw Clive stopped by the side of the road and from then on it was just a case of keeping my head together and making sure I got the car home."

Polo class victor on the Banbury Rally was London-based Greek George Philippedes.

Final standings: 1. David Bateson (Barrowford), 168 points; 2. Clive Wheeler (Albourne), 160; 3. Adrian Kermode (Douglas), 143; 4. Sophie Robinson (Moreton Morrell), 116.

MAT Ford-Dunn, from Rustington, finished fourth in the 125 National Championships following the last race of the season at Lydden Hill in Kent.

Ford-Dunn was often competing with riders from the British Championships but held his own and came good in the end, always finishing in the top five or above.

He said: "There were 11 rounds this season and after a shaky start when the bike wasn't performing up to speed, things started to go really well.

"I was looking to go away from Lydden with a rostrum position but fell off in the train trying too hard at the hairpin."

Ford-Dunn is an area and overseas manager for removals company Bishop's Move, who have been sponsoring him since he started racing several years ago. Team boss Alistair Bingle said: "If we could move houses as fast as Mat gets round those tracks we would be making a fortune."