West Sussex driver Clive Wheeler drove his way to one of amateur rallying's greatest prizes thanks to a superb display on the Kent-based Ashford Rally last weekend.

Wheeler, from Albourne, and his Hurstpierpoint-based co-driver Ken Bartram, overcame mechanical problems and a minor accident on the sixth round of the Volkswagen Polo Rally Challenge to maintain their overall championship lead with a well-fought second place finish.

Now Wheeler and his rivals David Bateson and Sophie Robinson are off on an all-expenses paid trip to this weekend's ADAC-3-Stadte-Rallye in Germany, where they will go head to head with Polo Challenge crews from Germany, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic and Gran Canaria.

At stake is a fantastic prize. The leading Polo finisher on the event will be handed the keys to the Volkswagen Racing UK-prepared Polo GTI Super 1600 for next month's Rally of Great Britain, and will give the TNT-backed car its World Rally Championship debut.

Bateson barely put a wheel wrong throughout the 14-stage Ashford Rally, which combined traditional forest stages and some tarmac running.

Bateson and his co-driver Guy Carlisle opened out a three-second lead over Wheeler on the opening test and stretched it out to a 28-second victory margin by the end.

Wheeler and Bartram also had problems with trees, and with their gearbox. Bartram said: "We lost first gear on the first stage which wasn't a big problem until stage nine, when we overshot a junction and clipped a tree.

"There wasn't much damage but it took us ages to get going again and we lost a lot of time."

Wheeler was more than happy with second place and with two rounds remaining he has a 15-point lead over Bateson.

Following this weekend's special German event, the Polo Challengers will be back in action on November 2/3 in the Jim Clark Memorial Rally, based at Duns in the Scottish Borders.

Provisional championship placings: 1. Wheeler (Albourne), 135 points; 2. Bateson (Barrowford), 120; 3. Robinson (Moreton Morrell) & Ian Chadwick (Cork), 100; 5. Kermode (Douglas), 96; 6. James Smith (Cambridge), 60.