STEFAN Hodgetts suffered a nightmare weekend at Snetterton in round 11 of the F3 championship.

Dogged by mechanical problems, Hodgetts ended up with a DNF and 18th place from the two races and wants to put the experience behind him and move on to Thruxton on September 14.

The catalogue of disasters began in testing on Friday when the £20,000 engine blew in spectacular fashion with the fault later diagnosed as a rod piercing the engine.

After the Honda mechanics corrected the problem, Hodgetts had missed out on practise and crashed out of the first qualifying session after a front damper lost gas, causing the younger driver to spin off into a wall.

Unbowed, Hodgetts was back on the track for the second session but was plagued by more problems which continued into the first race.

After failing to finish, mechanics discovered a problem with the CV joint which was fixed in time for the final race.

The Headless Cross driver is hoping for a return to form at Thruxton and is confident of a good showing after finishing tenth fastest at a recent testing day on the circuit.

And he has been named first choice driver for the Motaworld team next season provided he can raise the necessary sponsorship.