Mark James had a hectic time in the latest round of the Fiat Racing Challenge.

With qualifying and two races all scheduled for the same day at Lydden Hill, time was always going to be tight.

James, from Burgess Hill, had the worst possible start when, lying third in the first race, his engine blew.

With just an hour between races, his Redline Racing team lived up to their name by replacing the whole engine and gearbox with just two minutes left on the clock.

This allowed James to start the second heat but from the back of the grid. He said: "It was essential that I got into the points but it's never easy when there are 16 cars in front of you.

"I had nothing to lose and managed to pass six cars in the first two laps but then it got harder to pass the cars running in the top ten."

With some outrageous overtaking manoeuvres the Sussex driver managed to claw his way up to third place when the chequered flag came out.

He added: "All in all, I went home fairly happy.

"The team performed brilliantly to even get me on the grid, so I was pleased to end up on the podium."

With Redline team-mate Jaffa Greatrex taking the win, James has now dropped to third in the championship with six races left this season. The next round is at Mallory Park this weekend.