Castle Bytham-based racing driver Andrew Richardson produced a brace of podium finishes in his latest Formula Ford Championship outing at Thruxton.
In only his third single-seater meeting, 21-year-old Andrew put in a stunning qualifying performance to secure third place on the grid for race one – after he had missed the pre-event test at the Hampshire circuit.
He clinched second place in his Ford EcoBoost-powered Mygale to take his maiden Formula Ford podium place, and with it victory in the Scholarship class.
Forced off track and a resulting visit to the pits put paid to his chances in race two, in which he finished 11th.
In the third race, Andrew jumped from sixth to third on the opening lap, before moving up to second. He maintained the position until the final lap when Juan Rosso stole it back.
With third place and another Scholarship class win, Andrew was more than pleased with his Richardson Racing team’s performance, showing that they could contend for top honours despite their relative lack of experience.
Andrew said: “Going into the weekend, I hoped we’d be able to battle with the midfield but we didn’t expect to jump ahead of them and challenge for the podium.
“We’ve done a lot of work to improve the car again since Donington and changed a lot of things, so it’s difficult to pinpoint one thing that made the difference; everything just came together.
“To be in this position so early in the year gives me confidence that we can really push on and challenge at the front for the rest of the season.”
The next round of the championship is at Oulton Park.