BURY rally driver Gus Greensmith remained upbeat despite being hampered by cruel luck during round one of the 2016 Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy.

Crowned last year's Rookie Champion, the 19-year-old made a turbo-charged start to the Vodafone Rally de Portugal and was an early leader.

His excellent start came after months of painstaking preparations which included two productive days testing around Fafe.

But on stage seven he suffered a double puncture which spelled the end of his plans of a podium place at the magnificently supported event north of Porto.

That mishap saw the former British junior rally champion drop down the ladder to fifth spot.

He dug in, and managed to claw his way back up a place to fourth on stage 11 of the 19.

But Lady Luck was not smiling on Greensmith and his co-driver, Italian Alex Gelsomino. And, having already seen their Ford Fiesta R2T suffer suspension damage on stage 12, the pair were then further hindered on stage 16 by a broken drive shaft, which resulted in their retirement from the rally.

However, the talented teenager showed potentially rally-winning pace in spells over a challenging gravel course.

Greensmith said: “With a marked improvement from last year and rally winning pace, we’ve made our intentions clear for this season. We started really well and I was happy to be leading on the first day – we’ve worked hard to prepare for this and it all paid off.

“We showed exceptional pace while also being in the middle of the road but it was a cruel rally for us. I’ve got good confidence now ahead of the next round and I’m sure we can finish on top of the podium in Poland with a trouble-free rally.”

Throughout the weekend, roads cut up badly, exposing sharp rocks, abrasive bedrock and deep ruts.

But despite their early retirement, Greensmith and Gelsomino chalked up five stage wins to open their 2016 Trophy points account.

And, having upped the speed he showed in Portugal 12 months ago, Greensmith was in positive mood at the end of the weekend. He is one of 10 young drivers from around the world who are competing in identical Ford Fiesta R2 cars during a five-rally Trophy campaign. This concludes in October, and is a joint initiative by WRC tyre manufacturer DMACK and M-Sport.

It offers the biggest prize in global rallying – a lucrative seven rounds of WRC competition in 2017 using a Drive DMACK Ford Fiesta R5. Greensmith's next Trophy outing is Rally Poland in July.