BURY motorsport star Ryan Yarrow has successfully defended his 750MC Sports 1000 crown.

The 31-year-old from Unsworth only completed his rookie season in 2019 in the sport but has now won back-to-back titles, despite funding his participation himself.

And the man who is an electrical design engineer by trade is already eyeing a third year as champion in 2022.

Yarrow told Bury Times: “ I am delighted to have won the Sports 1000 Championship for the second year running which is no mean feat especially as a privateer.

“A big thanks goes to everyone who has helped me along the way and to everyone at the 750 motor club.”

Yarrow set out on his racing career aged just eight and for a decade he competed in various club and northern championships.

A result of particular note was a third place overall in the NKF Championship, alongside names such as Henry Surtees, the son of Motorcycle and F1 champion John Surtees.”

He added: “Ultimately, my karting history extended to punching well above my weight from a humble background, racing on a shoestring thanks to my parents who spent whatever spare money they had on it, but ultimately racing against people with significant funding it was never enough to pursue as more than a hobby.

“I raced karts for years as a kid but always wanted to get back on track when I could afford to fund myself to do so.

“I had always planned to go racing again, not just to compete but to put myself in a position to show my true worth.

“This has driven me to ultimately become a degree qualified engineer, and find myself back on the track.”

In his first season in 2019, racing a Spire GT3 in the hotly-contested 750MC Sports 1000, Yarrow began to learn the circuits, the car and it’s set-up intricacies, being run by the factory team, more through necessity than choice, due to not having the funds to pay the full sum for the car up front.

Despite encountering various issues with the car over the season and not knowing any of the circuits, he finished fourth overall. A year later he claimed his first title and now has gone on to defend that.

He continued: “At the end of 2019, I made the second payment for the car as agreed and took the car home.

“It was here that I put my engineering knowledge to work and completely went through the car. I found a number of fundamental issues and set about rectifying them.

“I finished the 2020 season as the 750MC Sports 1000 champion, beating the factory Spire team and their factory driver, with my own set-up and developments being key. This was the first time a ‘privateer’, ie non-team, non-sponsored driver, had won the championship in more than 10 years.

“Building on my success and further developing the car, I went on to win the championship for second year running this year.

“Converting 10 of 12 qualifying sessions into pole position, breaking two lap records and winning overall by 47 points, I finished every race I entered, except one, on the podium.”