• Rob battles to fifth despite some scary moments

Rob Huff will be ready to challenge the leaders in the next round of the Elf Clio RenaultSport UK Cup after a very encouraging, if hairy opening meeting at Brands Hatch.

The Cambridge racer, competing as winner of the coveted £80,000 Michelin Renault Scholarship, finished fifth out of 32, and followed it with one of the fastest times of the day in a special practice session at Thruxton.

"I achieved what I wanted in the first round," he said, "and it was a real boost to go to Thruxton this week and do a top three time, just one tenth of a second behind defending champion Daniel Buxton.

"Thruxton is the fastest track in the country, and there was a big four tenths of a second gap between the first four cars and the rest of the field. By the time we get to the second round of the championship at Oulton Park I'm sure I can be battling it out for a rostrum place at least.

"I hadn't driven on the Brands Grands Prix course, and I was still getting used to the Clio, whereas Buxton for instance was in his third season.

"I was aiming for a top 10 place in practice, and top five in the race. And despite some problems in practice I was seventh on the grid and fifth, so it was mission accomplished."

Not without a scare or two in practice though, such as hurtling towards a bend at 145mph with the interior mirror, which had fallen off, jammed under the brake pedal.

"That was interesting," said the 22-year-old driver, who has that motor racer's way of making situations which would terrify the average motorist, sound matter-of-fact.

"Somehow I was able to reach down and flick the mirror out of the way, but then there was a problem at the Dingle Dell chicane where the cars usually take off a couple of feet, but mine went about another foot in the air. That wrenched out some electrical cables and I was unable to get my fastest practice time when the tyres had warmed up and were giving the best traction.

"The race went pretty well though. I was side-by-side with Buxton on the first lap, but I was probably just a bit too eager and dropped to eighth.

"Then at Clearways, a long right hander you go into at about 120mph, three cars in front of me got it a bit sideways, so I was able to cut inside two of them and take another on the outside. I had to defend my fifth position after that from Alastair Lyle, who's been racing for 12 or 13 years. He whacked me a couple of times, but I stayed there to get some points on the board, which was important for the team in the first round."