• Robert drives 'perfect' lap for pole and battles to second

A red flag on the last but one lap snatched victory from Rob Huff in round three of the Elf Clio Renaultsport UK Cup at Thruxton.

But the Cambridge racer's runner-up spot after a blistering lap in qualifying, took him to second place overall in the championship which he entered as the nationwide winner of the Michelin Renault Scholarship.

After another red flag delay for an eight car pile-up earlier in the race he carved his way from third to first, but with a little more than one lap left of the seven after the restart another crash stopped the action once more.

"It was so frustrating," he said, "I'd got past Martin Byford. And the two other top men, Paul Rivett and champion Daniel Buxton were out of the race.

"But the red flag came out, and when that happens they always count back a lap. That took me back to second, and as there was only one more full lap to go it became the final result.

"Despite that though it was a very satisfying day for me, and certainly better than when I raced at Thruxton last season in Formula Renault and was stopped by a flying Brazilian driver flying through the air and bouncing off my car!

"But I've always liked Thruxton. It's the fastest circuit, you take some corners at 120 mph, and I had two wins there on the way to the Formula Vauxhall title."

The 22-year-old Cambridge driver, already joint-favourite for the Renaultsport title, expected a good grid placing after some fast practice times earlier in the season, but may even have surprised himself and his Tim Sugden Motorsport team by lapping in 1 min 23.6 seconds - an unofficial record time for a Clio - which gave him pole position.

"I was four tenths of a second faster than the field," he said, "but I was soon in a scrap with Daniel Buxton. He put me on the grass in the first round, and I returned the compliment in the last race.

"This time it looked as though he was threatening to take me out on one of the most difficult corners, but I slowed it down and he went off and rolled it. He got out all right though.

"Martin Byford got past me, then after the red flag stoppage I opened up a 2.5 secs lead. Somebody had dropped a lot of radiator water on the track though which sent me slithering off at the Church bend and I had to fight back again."

He will be just 10 points behind Byford going into the next round, a double header at Silverstone over the June Bank Holiday.

The second place followed another win in the Peter Best Insurance BCV8 Championship for him at Cadwell Park when he was 32 seconds in front in his class.