SAM Tordoff has clinched another podium place in the British Touring Car Championship.

The 26-year-old from Rawdon was third in race three at Donington Park, following up on his second place in race three in the season-opening meet on Brands Hatch's Indy Circuit earlier this month.

Tordoff's effort at Donington was all the more impressive as a red flag in qualifying meant that he was unable to complete a meaningful flying lap, which meant that he started race one in 21st position.

However, his plan to stay out of trouble paid off handsomely as he picked his rivals off one by one during a storming drive that brought his BMW to ninth place by the chequered flag.

Eighth spot in race two followed, along with the fastest lap for the tenth time in his BTCC career, and also put him on pole position on the partially-reversed grid for race three.

Choosing the last race in which to use the soft-compound Dunlop tyres that must be used once each event, Tordoff built a lead at the start, and clung on to third place when the performance of his rubber dropped off during the second half of the race.

The only driver so far this season to finish on the podium on soft tyres, Tordoff said: β€œTo end with a podium finish for the second round running, and get the fastest lap in race two, is a fantastic result after the challenging Saturday we had.

"I was always confident in the pace of the BMW, and that showed in race one where I stayed out of trouble early on and was able to climb from 21st to ninth.

"It was difficult to make progress in race two with the pack so evenly matched, but it allowed me to benefit from the reversed grid.

"On the soft tyres, I knew it would be tough to stay in front, but the BMW was fantastic and third place was a great way to finish."

Tordoff was 16th, ninth and second at Brands Hatch and ninth, eighth and third at Donington Park, and is sixth overall on 56 points.

He added: "To come away from the weekend with three top-ten finishes, a podium and a good spot in the championship is much more than I could have expected after qualifying.”

Tordoff and Rob Collard, who won race two at Donongton Park and was fourth in race three, won the HiQ Teams Trophy for the second event running for Team JCT 600 with GardX.