SINGLE-SEATER racing driver Jordan Oakes from Hopton is celebrating his first podium finish in the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship after finishing third in round 16 at Cheshire's Oulton Park circuit.

SINGLE-SEATER racing driver Jordan Oakes from Hopton is celebrating his first podium finish in the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship after finishing third in round 16 at Cheshire's Oulton Park circuit.

The 19-year-old Eurotek Motorsport racer started from the second row of the grid and came home behind championship leaders Adam Christodoulou and Alexander Sims to clinch a maiden podium in the championship won previously by Lewis Hamilton (2003) and Kimi Räikkönen (2000).

Jordan is a single-car entry in a series where the majority of teams are established professional teams that race in other, sometimes international championships. Despite having no data from team-mates to help improve performance, Oakes has regularly qualified at the sharp end of the grid and got full reward in sweltering conditions.

A superb start saw Oakes, whose older brother Oliver is also a racing driver, gain two places off the line to lie third behind Dean Stoneman and Christodoulou. The Nexen Fork Lift Trucks and Waveney Fire and Exhaust-backed driver dropped to fourth at the start of lap two as Sims dived up the inside but kept pace with the leaders in the early stages.

Stoneman then received a drive through penalty for a false start, elevating Oakes into third place where he came under pressure from James Calado.

Although his opponent appeared to have a faster car, Oakes used the experience gained since he began karting at the age of eight to defend his position.

The former karting champion and 2006 runner-up in the feeder Formula Renault BARC Championship, who chose to race with car No 13 this season, then pulled away over the final two laps of the race to finish just 0.363 seconds ahead of Calado.

Oakes said: “My start was awesome and I made up two places although I had to let Adam back through on the inside. I lost a place to Alexander early on but felt comfortable in third until near the end. James had one big lunge but then I blitzed the last couple of laps so I'm very happy.”

The podium finish adds 25 points to Oakes' season total after he collected 18 points for sixth place in round 15 held earlier in the day. He now occupies 12th place in the drivers' standings with a great chance of a top-10 finish with four races left.

Rounds 17 and 18 of the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship take place at Silverstone National circuit on August 30 and 31.

Results for the 2008 Formula Renault UK Championship provisional drivers' standings (including dropped scores) - round 16: 1 Adam Christodoulou GBR (CR Scuderia Formula Renault) 395 points, 2 Alexander Sims GBR (Manor Competition) 340, 10 Josh Scott AUS (Apotex Scorpio Motorsport) 184, 11 Ryuji Yamamoto JPN (CR Scuderia Formula Renault) 173, 12 Jordan Oakes (GBR Eurotek Motorsport) 166.