It's very rare for a father and son to be able to compete together at the very highest level of any sport – and it helped make this year's Le Mans 24 Hours very special for Martin and Alex Brundle.

The King's Lynn pair contested the 80th running of the famous round the clock French race in a Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN Nissan LMP2 sportscar and finished eighth in class and 15th overall.

With his greater experience, Martin started the event, running just behind the leading teams, before handing over to Alex after a triple stint behind the wheel.

'Alex brought me good news that he pitted P5 in class,' said Martin on Twitter. 'Then had to break the news that we lost a chunk of time having an alternator changed!'

Third driver Luca Ordonez then took the car out just before a major accident involving Anthony Davidson in the front running Toyota and a GT Ferrari 458 and spent some time behind the safety car while barrier repairs were carried out.

Just after 4am the car visited the gravel trap on the long Mulsanne straight before continuing with the drivers reporting a sticking throttle two hours later.

With nine hours still remaining finishing was the priority and the trio coaxed the car to the chequered flag. 'Mechanical niggles cost us this weekend but I gave absolutely everything,' tweeted Alex after the finish.

n Oille Jackson's British Touring Car Championship initiation continues apace at Oulton Park, where the Attleborough racer found the safety barriers in practice during the latest round in the series.

'I probably hit them at about 50mph,' he recalled. 'The front brakes failed so I pushed harder on the pedal. That locked the rears and I was off. The damage is surprisingly light but the big worry is not knowing what caused the failure in the first place.'

The team worked hard to repair the Golf allowing Jackson to qualify in 20th place for the opening race in which he finished 11th, his second best result of the season, to collect more valuable championship points.

The following two races resulted in a pair of 15th places and more points. In the first Jackson had to pit to have grass cleared out of his radiator while in a physical third race Jackson and Aaron Smith clashed knocking the latter out with many of the leading runners also ending up in the barriers.

• Local oval racing fans are mourning the loss of Steve Skitmore who died suddenly last week.

For nearly 20 years Skitty, as he was affectionally known, thrilled race goes up and down the country in his Banham Poultry-supported National Hot Rod winning countless titles.

In the early 1980s he was almost unbeatable on the Swaffham and Peterborough ovals before taking to the national scene and securing the points title three times in a row for the seasons most successful driver.

He retired from racing 10 years ago but continued to supply body panels and remained a popular figure.