Dan Zelos once more demonstrated his speed behind the wheel of his Evergreen Tyres supported car in the Renault UK Clio Cup series by setting a new lap record at Thruxton.

The Dereham driver had earlier secured front row starts for both races as he showed a deft touch behind the wheel at this most daunting of circuits.

'On the front row of the grid for both races. Well pleased with that and it shows Donington was no flash in the pan,' remarked Zelos, who had secured pole position at the previous round at the Leicestershire circuit.

However just as at Donington the local racer has yet to fully master the starting technique required and he was again swamped at the start of the opening event.

Pushed back to fifth place at the end of the opening lap Zelos lost four more places on the following tour and another two positions on the third but fought back to finish a disappointed tenth.

Race two started in the same fashion with Zelos pushed back to fifth place, which he consolidated, to match his best ever finishing position, plus he set a new lap record in the process at the Hampshire track.

'We leave Thruxton with perhaps not the results we were hoping for, tenth and fifth, but a huge amount of promise and potential, with a lot of very strong overtaking moves, some great racecraft and a new lap record,' said Zelos.

'We've definitely got the pace in qualifying and I've shown that I can race well and overtake, so the final piece of the puzzle now is the starts.

'Once I get the first 20 feet of the race right too, it will be a different story altogether and there's no reason at all why we can't go out there and push for podium finishes every time.'

'I love Thruxton,' added the Norwich University of Arts Graphic Design undergraduate and former Dereham Sixth Form College student. 'It's my favourite circuit on the calendar and such a tremendous challenge.'

In a gesture of support for his friend and former team-mate Billy Monger, Zelos changed his bonnet colour to cyan blue and got it autographed by the majority of the current BTCC drivers at Thruxton. It will be auctioned at a later date, with all proceeds going towards Billy's rehabilitation from the life-changing injuries he suffered at Donington Park last month.