Even though this was not a championship event for Clitheroe's Simon Horton, he used his trusty Metro GTI for one last time to sharpen his race skills before starting his own championship in the new supercar class Subaru Impreza.

On a tough day's racing, Simon managed to keep his head through the qualifying heats when all around were losing theirs, and claimed the top three results in each of the qualifying heats to put him second on the grid for the finals.

Unfortunately, Richard Horton was sidelined with technical problems during the day, which meant he was unable to take a place on the grid for the finals, but showed moments of blistering pace which is promising for the next event.

New driver in the team, Mark Strange, managed to join Simon in the finals with some sensible driving, keeping himself out of trouble during the earlier heats.

In the finals Simon managed to secure the final step of the podium with a fantastic third position in the opening round, while debut driver Strange claimed fourth place in his first ever race.

Simon Horton said: "It was a bit of a gamble taking the stockhatch Metro GTI to Croft as it's currently for sale, but we came away with a great result and with boosted confidence for the rest of the year.

"Mark did a fantastic job, he surprised us all with his performance and we hope he can repeat the performance at the next round."

The team's next event will be at the Lydden Hill circuit in Kent on Easter Monday.