SAM Bilham proved a class act in a muddy rallying test.

He finished second in class M3 and 11th modern crew home in his new Vauxhall ADAM Cup car at Rally North Wales, Dolgellau.

The Bingley rally driver would head to Wales for the opening round of the new Rally2 series and this would also mark the inaugural outing for Bilham in a Mechanical Solutions backed ADAM.

The nimble Cup car had been offered to Bilham by the firm’s owner Nigel Lewis and son Eddie took to the co-drivers seat for the event.

Bilham had not had a competitive outing since taking the Fiesta ST Trophy title last year and was looking forward to getting his season under way with a new car, new co-driver and new event.

He had only sampled the ADAM in a brief pre-event test so would need to take a cautious approach to the opening loop of stages.

An early morning triple-header of tests in the slippery Welsh mud would be a tough challenge to start the day, but the 21-year-old took a mature approach to the day.

Building his confidence with each stage, Bilham entered the mid-point service halt in an impressive third in class M3.

True to his word, the 2016 John Easson award winner settled perfectly into the DMACK Tyres shod ADAM on the final loop of three stages to cross the finish ramp in Dolgellau in second in his Vauxhall debut.

Bilham said: "I was hoping to do well this weekend, despite my lack of seat time in the car to but have taken second in class really has exceeded my expectations.

“I’m pleased with my progress throughout the day and with the end result.

“It took a while to bed myself in to the car and the stages this morning but that was to be expected. The stages were pretty tricky so we really wanted to make sure we made it round. I knew I had to give the car back when I`m finished so I was a little cautious at times.”