SUCCESS at the fourth attempt came the way of local motor racing couple, Nick Frost and Sheila Marshall, at Silverstone.

Based in Hinton-on-the-Green, they each own a Caterham race car and spend the season competing across the country with the highly popular Caterham Graduates Racing Club.

They have marked the end of the past four seasons by racing in the Birkett Six-Hour Relay Race at the world famous Northamptonshire circuit and this year they succeeded in winning their class - road-going cars up to 1600cc - against tough opposition.

Marshall's task as team manager is to coax the best out of Frost and her team of four other drivers as they vied against 40 other teams, and the handicapper, to come out on top after 266 laps of the 1.64-mile National circuit.

"I love the Birkett", she said. "The atmosphere and excitement as more than 200 drivers battle it out in machinery as varied as 65mph Austin 7s and 130mph Radical racing cars just can't be beaten".

This year's race is on October 29 and the ambitious Vale pairing are already planning their attack. They also hoping to compete at the Prescott Hill Climb.

Marshall has raced her 100bhp Vauxhall-engined Caterham in the Graduates class for four years, while Frost has been racing since 1997 in his 133bhp Rover-engined car in the Mega-Graduates class.

After last year's 14 championship races staged in England, Wales, Scotland and France, Frost claimed fifth place and his partner, one of only two women in her class, eighth. She was also one of only four drivers who managed to start and finish every race!

The 2005 racing calendar will again see the couple competing all round the country with the special highlight of a double-header at Belgium's famous Spa-Francorchamps.

Race days are hectic for Marshall who helps subsidise the cost of racing by running the championship's driver catering facility - providing breakfast, lunch and tea for up to 80 hungry drivers!

When he's not racing, Frost is thinking about it! He sits on the board of the Thruxton-based British Automobile Racing Club and is secretary of the Caterham Graduates Racing Club.

"I love encouraging new drivers into the sport," he said. "You don't have to be mega-rich to go motor racing but, with our cars costing as little as £7,000 and a season's racing costing around £5,000, it is more accessible then many people think."

Log on to www.graduates.org.uk to find out more about a future on the track.