Competing in the last event of the five-round contest at Innerleithen, Arran and Scottish Downhill Association champion Lewis Buchanan of Innerleithen, were both in with a shout.

Arran, 16, needed to finish in the top five – and did just that. Even with a mechanical problem the Selkirk youngster finished third behind Lewis, who just missed out on the win by two 10ths of a second behind winner Sam Flockhart.

It was a late decision to change venues from North Yorkshire due to large amounts of rain over the past few months, but Arran was reasonably confident in the warm-up round at his local track.

He told The Wee Paper: "I like the course at Yorkshire, but was happy to change as I know the Innerleithen course well.

"It has been a great season for me and all the rounds were closely contested. I'm just glad I did enough to take the series."

Arran, who rides for Santa Cruz and Fox, had a disastrous first round in the NPS when two crashes saw him finish in 12th place.

Luckily, there were no serious injuries and Arran went on to win the second, third and fourth rounds. Now in his fifth year at Selkirk High School, the youngster is looking to make a full-time career out of his sport.