OXFORDSHIRE-based motorsport team Friesian Racing claimed an impressive third place in the national section of the Baja GB in mid-Wales at the weekend.

After 625.82 kilometers of high speed action in the Welsh forests, the Friesian Racing team with their distinctive Land Rover Discovery, Muddy Moo' missed out on second place by a mere 30 seconds.

Driver and team principal Henry Webster, of Middleton Stoney, said: "I am chuffed to bits with the result. It's been a fantastic event, the stages have suited us down to the ground. It is the sort of terrain that our car really thrives on!"

Co-driver Sarah Suter, of Chepstow, said: "We've done especially well when you consider that the sport is dominated by specially modified vehicles. To get on the podium with a Production Class car is virtually unheard of!"

The event was not without its challenges for the team. Having missed last year's inaugural event, thwarted at the last minute by engine gremlins, the team found themselves in a similar situation this year.

With just minutes to go to the technical scrutineering, the Discovery would not start and the service crew worked hard to get the car running and into the event on time.

The ignition lead came loose on the opening SuperSpecial stage in Radnor Forest forcing a stop to reattach it and relegating them to the back of the national field.

The fightback started on the first stage of day two, the first of the true Baja stages (a 60.97km test in Hafren Forest and Sweet Lamb), where the team overtook five cars to claim the third fastest time. A similar feat in the third 54.64km test brought the team right back into contention.

Disaster struck on the second loop of stages. Two thirds of the way through the second Sweet Lamb stage a brake line fractured leaving the crew with no brakes. Nursing the car almost 20 kilometres to the end without brakes, the team were then able to block off the offending pipe and drive the Tarenig stage with an ill-handling car with braking effort on just three wheels.

Once fixed at the overnight halt, the team were able to claw their way back on to the podium in the remaining two Sunday tests.

Webster added: "Getting to the end of an endurance event like this is an achievement in itself, but to do so and to finish on the podium was beyond our wildest expectations! It is a credit to the quality of the parts supplied by Abingdon-based Allmakes 4x4."