Budding racing champion Craig Rainer has a new supporter.

Craig and wife Claire recently had a baby and next weekend six-week old Shannon will attend her first race meeting.

However, the new arrival is unlikely to get in the way of Rainer's ambitions of winning silverware.

In fact, as from this week the 30-year-old from Crawley Down will have even more time for two of his great loves.

Mechanic Craig is giving up work to become a house-husband.

Nappies and tears permitting, he will have a bit more time to concentrate on his racing.

Rainer is currently leading class B of the Modified Ford Saloon Car Championship and is third overall in the series, having claimed his first overall win in the last meeting at Lydden Hill.

His intention this year is to win class B for a second successive year and also make an impression on the overall title.

Rainer has come a long way since first racing four years ago, although connections with the sport go back further than that.

The Wealden Racing driver explained: "As a little kid my dad used to race at Smallfield.

"He raced hot rods and he did that for two or three years.

"I got hooked on racing then; I was only about 12. That started the whole racing bug.

"The car I race (a Punto) belonged to one of my best friends. After a year he could not afford to race anymore, so he gave it up.

"A couple of friends and I decided it was too much of a good thing to let go, so we bought the car."

Although he admits his first season, 1997, was a learning curve, he picked up some good results.

An inauspicious start saw him rammed from behind by fellow Sussex driver Mike Webb in his first race at Castle Coombe, but things rapidly improved.

The following year Rainer finished second in class and last year he won class B, as well as finishing third overall in a championship consisting of 50 cars.

This season the Sussex ace won his first three races, finished second and fourth in the next two, but then missed the next three races as Claire was so close to giving birth.

Although the worst two results of the season are docked by every driver at the end of the year, the absent rounds have added pressure on Rainer, who would surely have run away with class B otherwise.

The return to action at Lydden Hill, when he finished first and second overall in the two races, shows Rainer can take on and beat more powerful cars.

He said: "We have got to win class B and I think we can do that. But we also want to give the championship a run for its money and we will get close to it."

As for the future? Craig added: "We need to win our championship outright.

"When we have done that we would need to look at the next step, but you need some serious backing to do that."

The immediate future is Snetterton next weekend when Rainer junior will be making her debut and nothing would please Craig more than to give Shannon an early taste of that winning feeling.