Ramsey St Mary racer James Pinkerton has claimed a ‘surreal’ championship success.

Ramsey St Mary racer James Pinkerton has claimed a ‘surreal’ championship success.

Pinkerton powered to glory in the Radical SR1 Cup during a fine debut season in the series.

He took a commanding 43-point advantage into the last round at Brands Hatch last weekend and smoothly completed his march to the title.

While closest challenger Ryan Harper-Ellam won both outings at the Kent circuit, a pair of third places proved to be enough for Pinkerton as he maintained a 100 per cent record of finishing on the podium in every race in 2018.

He said: “I only sat in a race car for the first time a year ago and I’m so happy to have won the title.

“It’s just so surreal to hear the word ‘champion’ associated with me.

“Ryan has been an incredible rival all the way through a long and hard year and I definitely hope to stay in Radical racing next season.”

Pinkerton actually crossed the line in fourth position in the opening race, but he was promoted to third due to rival driver Shane Storey received a 10-second penalty for a starting offence.

Pinkerton knew he only needed a top-10 finish in the season finale to ensure he was crowned champion and the Avidity Motorsport man came home third.

He added: “I knew what I had to do so took things cautiously in race one, but in race two I was driving around just thinking about the numbers, so there was definitely more pace on the table, but I was probably a bit scared of going for it.”

While Harper-Ellam won eight of the 12 races during the campaign, it was Pinkerton’s overall consistency which kept him at the top of the standings.

He piled up 366 points, 43 more than Harper-Ellam managed. Will Hunt took third in the championship with 250 points.