Jamie Perry claimed a win and a second-place finish in the latest rounds of the Volkswagen Racing Cup, at Rockingham in Northamptonshire.
The Castle Hedingham driver, 34, was at the wheel of the Keith Garages-backed Golf GTI which he raced for the first time - virtually untried - at Oulton Park in April.
With many test and development miles under its belt the car was transformed at Rockingham and Perry was immediately competitive.
In the first of the day's races he sped up to second by the fifth of the 13 laps, and then found himself battling for top spot after early leader Paul Taylor (Hertfordshire) suffered a puncture.
Perry's bid for victory was denied, however, by Nottinghamshire youngster James Walker, who pipped him to the chequered flag by 2.1 seconds.
Perry was not to be outdone in race two: he claimed the lead at the second turn and set about building a massive lead in the wet track conditions.
It was as well he did because, as the track dried, his tyres lost their edge and he came under heavy pressure in the final stages from Caddy TDI racer Peter Wyhinny.
Perry said: "The tyre choice was a really tough call. I went for full wets and they were great early on but I knew they wouldn't last. It was really scary seeing the van bearing down on me."
Perry won by less than half a second.
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