Mark Sumpter has lost top spot in the Michelin Porsche Cup after a mixed weekend at Oulton Park.

Sumpter, from Five Ashes in East Sussex, was out of luck in the sprint race as radiator damage forced him to retire, having started from pole position.

However, he bounced back in Sunday's feature race, working his way through to finish sixth from near the back of the grid.

Qualifying had gone extremely for Sumpter in his Paragon Porsche-entered Porsche 911GT3. He headed the times by just under half a second from championship newcomer Mark Cole.

At the start of the sprint race, Sumpter lost out to Peter Chambers on the charge out of the first corner.

Cole joined the leaders in a three-way battle for first place but it was Cole's error that forced Sumpter out of the race.

The newcomer misjudged the track conditions going into the Island Hairpin, slid into the back of Sumpter's car and pushed him into the back of Chambers.

The impact, although light, was enough to damage a radiator and Sumpter immediately knew his race was over.

This meant the Sussex driver had to start from near the back of the grid for Sunday's feature race.

A damp but drying track promised some drama and, sure enough, Chambers spun on the exit of the first corner and that delayed the chasing pack.

There was more action to follow as Sumpter was hit from behind again following another melee but he recovered to claim sixth place in the closing laps.

Sumpter said: "That's about the best I could expect from where I started.

The result dropped Sumpter down to second place overall in the points table behind Nigel Rice with the action resuming at Thruxton on May 5-6.