SIDCUP driving ace Thomas Grainger has just been confirmed as the MG Metro Cup 2012 champion.

Although the 18-year-old won the championship with one race to go, he had to wait until the final round at Snetterton last weekend for this to be verified. Grainger is the youngest ever winner of the Metro Cup, which has had championship status for about 25 years.

He won his class in nine out of 10 rounds this season and had an overall win at Mallory Park and also set new lap records for the Metro in eight of the rounds. Grainger described this as his best race of the year because it was televised live on TV. The season has certainly not gone without incident for the teenager.

In the opening race of the campaign at Brands Hatch in April he had an engine blow up, although with help from his dad and friends they managed to repair the problem so he could continue racing.

And in the final race the spark plug connection came loose, but with a quick repair pit stop he was able to finish the race.

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