• Fifth win gives Cambridge racer crown

Twenty-year-old racing driver Rob Huff claimed the 2000 Formula Vauxhall Championship in emphatic style on Saturday afternoon at Snetterton, Norfolk, leading all the way to take the race win and seal his victory in the prestigious championship. Huff, who only had to finish eighth or higher to take the title, elected to prove himself a worthy champion and, rather than play safe in the race, took the perfect finish to his single-seater season - a fifth win which guaranteed him the championship.

"It's brilliant!" said Huff. "Being champion hasn't really sunk in yet, and I'm not sure it ever will. We knew what we had to do today to take the title, and we thought of being cautious, but I qualified on pole and no-one got near me in the race. It's a great way to win a championship."

After destroying his original race car in an incident at Mallory Park two weeks ago, Huff was racing in a different car for the first time at Snetterton, but was still able to set the quickest time in qualifying.

"I thought I was taking it easy in qualifying," said Huff, "just keeping it smooth and not locking the wheels under braking. Then I got a good tow off another car and ended up quickest by a fifth of a second."

"In the race, I knew I really only had to finish to take the title. I got a good start, and, when I looked in my mirrors coming out the first corner, I saw a lot of tyre smoke behind from the others. I looked again at the second corner and there wasn't another car within 40 yards!

"As the race went on I started to worry about all sorts of little things on the car, but I won by over twelve seconds. Coming back into the pits was great. I could see all my family and friends, waving and cheering - it was really emotional - fantastic!"

On the podium after the race the presentations were made by Jim Russell, founder of the famous Jim Russell Racing School for whom Huff raced after winning their 2000 World Scholarship. Huff's prize for taking the championship will be the opportunity to race in the US early next year.

On Sunday Huff headed for the Cadwell Park circuit in Lincolnshire, aiming to add class victory in the Ethyl MG Championship to his earlier success. While battling for the class lead, however, a gearbox problem sidelined his MGB, Huff having to be content with second in class, despite having missed a number of races to concentrate on his Formula Vauxhall campaign.