Dearham racer Josh Skelton came within a second of recording another win in his maiden F4 British Championship season in a photo finish at Snetterton.

After finishing sixth in race one, Skelton crossed the finish line an agonising 0.099 seconds away from what would have been his second victory of the campaign after starting on pole in race two of the weekend.

Skelton, who is now fifth in the drivers’ championship on 172.5 points, lost the lead when avoiding Sebastian Alvarez, who ran wide when trying to pass the Cumbrian, and almost caught eventual winner Tommy Foster on the run to the line.

Skelton said: “We were looking good in practice, though we struggled a bit on fresh tyres with the grip.

“In qualifying I didn’t get a good lap in so only finished seventh, so I knew I had to get my head down for race one.

“It was a bit of a boring one. I made up a place off the line but nothing else happened.

“That gave me reverse grid pole, but I struggled at the start.

“I was defending for my life with people attacking from all directions.

“I was run wide when Alvarez tried to pass but then something clicked, and I found lots of time.

“I reeled in Tommy Foster and almost got him across the line.”

Skelton crossed the line third in the final race of the weekend, a mere 0.034 seconds behind the car ahead.

“I thought I would be happy with a top-five finish in race three,” he said.

“I got my head down and made two places into turn one, and we had so much pace it was unreal.

“I could put the car where I wanted.

“I picked two more people off and put a charge in on Bart [Horsten] but couldn’t get through.

“It was smarter to come away with the points rather than crash.”

There is a swift turnaround for the team now before a second visit to the UK’s fastest race circuit, Thruxton, next weekend.

“I’m heading into Thruxton where hopefully we can carry the pace over,” Skelton added.