• Cambridge racer leads all the way to take third win in championship

A perfect start propelled Cambridge-based Robert Huff into a lead he held for the whole ten laps of round six of the 2000 Formula Vauxhall Championship at Silverstone on Saturday, July 8. His third win in just six races in the Championship, 20-year-old Huff has confirmed himself as a title contender in the closely fought series.

Driving for the Jim Russell Racing team, Huff having won their World Scholarship against opposition from across the World, qualified second on the grid for the ten-lap race, just a tenth of a second behind his team-mate. He then made a superb start on a wet track to take an immediate lead in his 145bhp Formula Vauxhall single-seater race car that was never threatened.

"It was a brilliant race!" said Huff. "I was working with a new engineer this weekend, and he told me exactly how to get the car off the line in the wet, so I did exactly what he told me when the green light came on and made an awesome start. I was ten or more yards clear at the first corner.

"We'd done a lot of work together in testing and found a good set-up for the car - which became meaningless once it rained just ten minutes before the race - but I was still able to pull away as the race progressed. By the end of the first lap I was 20 yards clear, and from then on it was a case of not making a mistake and reeling off the laps.

"We'd noticed before the start that a car in the previous race had blown its engine and put down a lot of oil on the track at the first corner. Once it rained you couldn't see the oil, so I stayed clear of it as some of the cars behind slid off there - increasing my lead!"

"I'm really pleased the race went so well. I needed to win it to get back in the points battle, and now there's all to play for in the championship race. The next round is a double-header [two race] meeting at Knockhill in Scotland. I've never been there before - but neither have any of the other drivers so it should be an even battle!"

Next Race - Knockhill, Scotland, July 30