Motor racing: Rookie podiums for Sheffield teenager Josh Rattican at Oulton Park

Taylor arrived at Oulton with a replacement car. But the Rotherham 17-year-old again suffered brake problems in qualifying.

He said: “I was going for pole position and suddenly the brake pedal went soft – no brakes!!! A bit of a problem with no brakes.”

The same problem that plagued him at the first two meetings: Taylor sighed, “I’ve not had a good round since Brands Hatch and Donington Park.”

Although starting from lowly 14th and 17th grid slots, Taylor was confident he could still have a decent race.

“We know I have the pace to come through the field - once we get through - and concentrate on - the first lap with no damage,” he said.

He soon regretted those words, when exiting round 10s opening lap first corner, Taylor managed to avoid a spinning car at the first corner, but suddenly became sandwiched violently by two cars leaving him with a detached bonnet and broken front suspension and giving instant retirement.

Cruelly, round 11 lasted no longer for Taylor again retiring on the opening lap at exactly the same corner, this time being tipped into a spin and colliding with the barrier, but on the opposite grass verge to the previous race…

So another long, slow walk back to the pits – head down, helmet still on as he contemplated his championship position also taking an impact, dropping him down the points table to 6th-place.

Sheffield’s Josh Rattican fared a lot better qualifying 6th for round 10, managing to hold position throughout the race, on his way to equalling his best result of the season in 6th-place and on the podium as 2nd-best Rookie.

A pair of safety car periods gave only two actual racing laps to round 11, the 14 year-old gained a place from grid 7th and took the flag in 6th, plus another Rookie podium in 3rd-place. Rattican is now 11th in the points table and 4th-best Rookie.

Having scored a 3rd-place podium at the previous Croft round, Seb Perez hoped for another strong result in his Amigos Redline Racing Porsche 991 GT3 in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.

Lining-up 10th on the grid in the Pro class for round 7, Chesterfield’s Perez made a clean start off the line and soon became part of a six-car fight for places below the podium.

Running in 9th, the battle continued until the last lap for the 19-year-old when he managed to grab an 8th-place finish.

From an 8th starting slot for round 8, Perez held station at first, but as the race went on he began to struggle with his pace and eventually crossed the line 9th in class, “when you don’t have the pace it’s tough to defend”, Perez commented.