A Herculean effort from his two mechanics underpinned Josh Files' latest victories in the German TCR Championship as the Poringland racer increased his lead in the series.

Eastern Daily Press: Harry Webb impressed in the wet conditions at Croft. Picture: Jakob Ebrey PhotographyHarry Webb impressed in the wet conditions at Croft. Picture: Jakob Ebrey Photography (Image: Archant)

Files, the current title holder, ended the first part of qualifying at the Red Bull Ring, Austria, with a broken damper on his Target Competition Honda Civic, which his crew managed to change in just eight minutes.

Files repaid their efforts with a banzai lap on cold tyres to secure eighth place on the starting grid for the opening race. The local racer pulled off another one of his demon starts to bolt into the lead of the opening race before the first corner which led to victory, despite two safety car interludes.

Race two followed a similar pattern, despite Files being loaded with 30kg of success ballast, with the local racer taking victory and leaving Austria with a 55-point championship lead.

'I'd like to personally thank my two mechanics, Christian and Richard, for getting that damper repaired in just eight minutes. Without their effort, and the rest of the guys who chipped in, the wins we achieved wouldn't have been possible,' concluded Files.

Eastern Daily Press: Dan Zelos in race two at Croft. Jakob Ebrey PhotographyDan Zelos in race two at Croft. Jakob Ebrey Photography (Image: Copyright Tony Todd 2017)

A difficult qualifying on a wet and slippery track put Dereham's Dan Zelos on the back foot in the latest races in the Renault UK Clio Cup, held at the Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire.

'Probably the hardest weekend yet in the Clio Cup. A lot of progress made in myself as a driver and P7 is something we can smile about,' admitted Zelos.

The local youngster started race one from 15th place and quickly latched onto a battle for a top-10 place, but was unable to finish better than 13th.

Race two was kinder as Zelos started in 12th place and after keeping out of the first-lap trouble found himself in eighth place which he improved upon when James Dorlin slipped up.

Harry Webb again impressed in the wet conditions which greeted the British F4 contenders in their opening race at the Croft Circuit.

The Topcroft racer pulled off a number of good moves to be placed fourth, but a mid-race grassy moment dropped him back to seventh.

In race two Webb moved between seventh and 10th places before crossing the line in eighth, while in the third encounter he was a consistent 10th throughout.