MOTOR RACING: KIDDERMINSTER'S Nathan Freke collected his first wins of the season on Sunday to accelerate into the lead of the UK Ford Formula Championship.

The 22-year-old racer's glory came at the expense of previous pacemaker Peter Dempsey, who managed to salvage only one podium finish from the weekend at Snetterton.

Freke, in his Mygale/Ford Duratec car sponsored by Newnet, ended the winning streak of Dempsey who had triumphed in the first four rounds of the season.

Freke never looked in danger of losing the fifth round and romped home to a seven-second win - the biggest victory margin of the campaign.

The Kidderminster driver was delighted with his maiden UKFF win and said: "It's a big confidence boost finally to win. I concentrated on getting a good start, pulling out a gap and being consistent, and it all paid off."

He added: "We always knew we could win, but the last two meetings we have not had the rub of the green. This time it was ours.

"We were able to do the times from the front, which the others could not match even when in the slipstream."

In the sixth round, Freke and Shropshire's Stephen Roberts traded top spot lap after lap, but in the closing stages Freke eased out just enough of a gap to ensure his second win of the day.

The UKFF championship chaser is back in action at Brands Hatch this weekend.