• Cambridge racer takes third in incident-packed Belgian races

Robert Huff claimed third place in Round Four of the 2000 Formula Vauxhall Championship at the Zolder circuit in Belgium at the weekend, May 20/21. Twenty-year-old Huff, from Cambridge, was denied an even better finish in the second of the two continental races when mechanical failure halted his car as he was closing on the race leader.

Racing outside of Great Britain for the first time in many seasons, two 10-lap rounds of the championship were scheduled for Zolder, in central Belgium, one on each day of the weekend. Huff, racing for the Jim Russell Racing team after winning their World Scholarship against opposition from across the World, was visiting the track - former home of the Belgian Grand Prix - for the first time.

"It made it more of a challenge to go to a circuit that none of us had seen before," said Huff. "It's a real driver's circuit and I enjoyed racing there.

"I was third on the grid for the first race, and got into the lead at the start. Another car closed up on me and I had to defend for three laps, then he tried to go past and we touched, sending my car up in the air. Fortunately I landed flat on the ground, but I'd lost places and had a bent wheel. Somehow I managed to limp round and still take third - in fact, it took me so long to get to the finish that the first two were out of their cars and waiting to step onto the podium!"

"On Sunday it just rained all day. I was in third position in the early laps, just sitting back and waiting for my moment as the front two battled. Then one of them spun and I had to take evasive action, bouncing through a gravel trap, and somehow I emerged in second place. I was closing in on the leader when the fuel pump packed up and that was that - race over.

"I've slipped to second in the championship, but I'm only a point behind when you take dropped scores into consideration. I've also done more racing than the championship leader, and I'm sure that I can get inside his head as the season goes on!"

Next Race - Silverstone, Northamptonshire, July 8