Romford racer Matt Luff remains in the title hunt in the Demon Tweeks Audi TT Cup after a wet weekend at Thruxton.
The 23-year-old arrived at the UK's fastest circuit for the penultimate round of the 2024 season sitting joint second in the series standings.
And after managing to finish in a respectable third place in the 15-minute qualifying session on Saturday morning, he managed to squeeze into second place during race one and put pressure on championship leader Bradley Burns.
Luff set the fastest lap of the opening race, claiming a first-ever lap record for an Audi TT at the circuit but could not find a way past local man Burns.
Nonetheless, he was able to line up at the front of the grid alongside his rival for race two on Sunday, although torrential rain made for treacherous driving conditions.
An incident on track in the early stages of the race meant competitors had to follow in sequence behind a safety car for the majority of the time, denying Luff the chance to put more pressure on Burns to move up from second, even though he was posting quicker times.
A reverse grid for race three then meant Luff started down in ninth place later in the day, but he managed to work his way up the order - avoiding a car that had lost control in front of him - and finish in third place for his third podium of the weekend.
Luff's consistent form allowed him to add notable points to his season haul and move firmly into second place on his own in the standings, with a gap back to the third-place driver.
The season finale will take place at Silverstone International next month and Luff, a former pupil of Gidea Park College and Brentwood School, says he will give it everything.
He won the Milltek Sport Honda Civic Cup Championship in 2022, having finished second in that series a year earlier and said: "Coming into this weekend I knew I needed a solid points haul to keep the championship fight alive.
"I think we definitely achieved that by ending the race meeting with three podiums in some treacherous conditions, and a new lap record to top it off.
"Race two was extremely frustrating as all of us behind the leader were actually lapping a little faster than him, so a win was definitely on the cards.
"Race three was a little more like it. I made some strong progress up the field and finished in a respectable P3.
"My sights are firmly set on the final round at Silverstone in three weeks time as just a handful of points separate the top three in the championship.
"Huge thanks to all my sponsors and supporters for their continued support, and I'm looking forward to giving it my all at the season finale next month."
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