Horsham racer Clive Richards ended his season on a high note at Brands Hatch when he clinched third place overall in the Autosport Caterham Eurocup.

Fresh from race victory at Dijon in France earlier this month, Richards qualified his self-prepared Superlight on the front row and sped into an early lead in Saturday's first race.

By the fourth lap he had built up a one-second advantage but saw that cut to nothing soon afterwards when caution flags were brought out while a stricken car was moved.

Richards, 40, then came under pressure from Surrey's Nigel Taylor, who managed to find a way past on the penultimate lap to steal victory. Richards forced to settle for third on the final lap when Simon Pullan nipped past him.

Thing went wrong for Richards from the outset of the second Eurocup race. A fuel leak on the grid saw him forced to start the race from the pit lane and, though he had fought through to the top ten within six laps, and up to seventh place by lap nine, that was as high as Richards would rise.

A puncture forced him back to the pits and he lost two laps in the process. Richards ploughed on to take 21st place and eighth in class, and score the valuable points required to secure third place in the championship.

Championship placings: 1. Simon Pullan (Lincoln), 169 points; 2. Nigel Taylor (Bagshot), 158; 3. Clive Richards (Horsham), 138; 4. Malcolm Cook (Bramshaw), 135; 5. Michel Borens (FRA), 98; 6. Franois Salhien (FRA), 87.