Team RAC driver Tom Onslow-Cole took a first podium finish in the fifth round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship race at Rockingham on Sunday.

The 19-year-old from New Malden, Surrey started the race from eighth place, following his finish in that position in race one and a superb start saw him up into third before the safety car was deployed to retrieve a number of stricken cars.

At the restart he slotted in behind eventual race winner Fabrizio Giovanardi and Tom Chilton, the latter quickly coming under intense pressure from the reigning Elf Renault Clio Cup Champion, who several times made the move into second.

He finally made the move stick and came home in second place to the delight of the massive crowd and the hard-working Team RAC/WSR mechanics.

"I'm really pleased," Onslow-Cole said. "It's an awesome feeling to get my first podium so early in the season.

"My aim at the beginning of the year was to be on the podium by the midway point so to achieve it at the second race meeting is amazing."

Starting the first race from seventh, Onslow-Cole had a difficult opening two laps in the BMW 320si, in which he picked up a broken shock absorber, dropping him down the field.

On a track he admitted was not one of his favourites, he recovered well to climb back up the order and finish behind team-mate Colin Turkington in eighth.

In the day's third and final race, a reverse grid saw the teenager relegated to a ninth-place start, but a fantastic getaway and some quick, decisive driving saw him dive up the inside of three cars entering the second corner and into third.

Another safety car period on the ninth lap then signalled the first retirement of 2007 for Onslow-Cole, when his radiator overheated following debris intervention causing instant retirement.

"I was disappointed with the first race, which was a struggle with the early damage we picked up and then with the third race spoilt with debris intervention," he said.

"Overall, though, I have come away with my head held high, as I can run at the front with some of the top drivers in the country."

His superb performances over the weekend has moved the youngster up into seventh in the Championship standings, just three points adrift of his team-mate Turkington.

The battle resumes at Thruxton in Hampshire on May 5-6.