SALISBURY'S young motor racing ace Ross Curnow has become the first rookie driver ever to take top spot on the podium in the Formula BMW championship, writes Sarah McQuillen.

An extraordinary weekend's racing at Knockhill, Edinburgh, saw the teenager, who is in his debut season piloting single seaters and is not yet old enough to drive a car on a public road, take the chequered flag leaving experienced senior racers trailing in his wake.

The triumph gives the Bishop Wordsworth's pupil a healthy 47-point lead in the BMW rookie championship, with six races to go.

Curnow said: "It was brilliant being on top of the podium.

"Everyone was really pleased for me."

The former karting champion made an instant impact when he entered Formula BMW at the start of this season and has been steadily improving his placings and drawing closer to an overall podium finish all year.

At Knockhill, he fulfilled his promise in stunning style.

After notching up his first pole position, he led from the front, holding all challengers at bay with a resolute performance.

Curnow added: "It was a bit tough, because the people behind me were really quick. I just had to guard my line and in the last lap I was able to pull away a little."

Even an appearance by the safety car, which allowed other drivers to catch him up, bringing the top 12 within 0.6 of a second of each other, did not shake his composure.

The same could not be said of his proud dad Alan, who was watching on tenterhooks alongside his son's delighted BMW team-mates.

He said: "I could hardly bear to watch.

"I had hoped that by the end of the year Ross would make the front row of the grid but I wouldn't have believed this was possible.

"He was under massive pressure.

"He had cars alongside him and right behind him the whole time - but no-one could get past him.

"When he crossed the finish line, everyone just went mad."

The historic win clearly gave Curnow a taste for glory.

In the second race of the weekend, he started in third place on the grid and drove a consistent race to finish in third, returning to the podium and lifting himself to seventh place overall in the senior championship table.

Curnow is next in action in two weeks at Brands Hatch, where he will be looking to consolidate his lead in the rookie class.