Stuart Emery is hoping to defend his Rallycross Open Championship title when the new season gets underway at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire next month.

In his first season, Emery achieved five first places and secured the title after grabbing the fifth place he needed in the final race.

The 37-year-old from Faversham is now preparing for his second season driving for EMtech Rallycross in the Procar2000 division. His brother Andy forms the other half of the team and is responsible for car maintenance.

Emery said: “It was an exciting finish to last season because I needed to finish fifth at Croft to win the overall title.

“When I started out I pulled the gear lever off and it was a bit touch and go. Luckily I finished in the fifth place that was needed.

“I’m fairly confident we can do well this year. There are quite a few new cars being built and I think the division will be a lot stronger.”

The motorsport enthusiast will be driving a Peugeot 306 Rallye in the championship which takes place at circuits across England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

“I’ve watched races since I was a kid,” Emery added. “About 10 years ago I had my first go at it and raced locally at Lydden. I did that for about four to five years. I then had a break from it before getting back into it last year.

“The regulations in this division mean that you can keep the car fairly standard from a power point of view. That keeps the cost down. Our budget for the season is about £4,000.”