12 October, 2008: Wayne Boyd is the 2008 British Formula Ford Champion. The 17-year-old from Templepatrick in Ulster clinched the crown at Donington Park this weekend with a hat-trick of podium finishes in the final rounds of the 25-race Ford-backed series.

Boyd won a total of 13 races at the wheel of his Mygale to secure the fourth consecutive Formula Ford title for the Jamun Racing team. Alas for Wayne, he did not end his year on a race-winning note: one of the Donington victories went to his Brazilian team-mate, Victor Correa, and the other two to Scottish Van Diemen driver David Brown.

But Wayne was nonetheless delighted to have secured the championship: "It hasn't really sunk in yet, but mostly it's a feeling of relief that the job is done. It's been a great season for me and Jamun have been fantastic. I think the high spots - other than today's championship win - were dominating at Knockhill and winning all three races, and doing the double at Spa.

"This season has taught me an awful lot that I know I will put to good use in my future career. Many of the teams I am talking to for next season have told me that they welcome drivers from Formula Ford because they believe it's the best training you can get."

Boyd's team-mate and last remaining title rival, Tim Blanchard, was quick to pay tribute: "All respect to him… Wayne has done a great job all year and he thoroughly deserves the championship."

Australian Blanchard was on the back foot from the outset at Donington, qualifying only fifth fastest, two-tenths off the pole-sitting pace set by Boyd. Then in Saturday's first race, as Wayne sped into an early lead, Tim had to battle to find a way past the Getem Mygale of Dutch driver Chris Maliepaard to move into third. Soon Blanchard came under severe pressure from another of his running mates, Correa, who was in spirited form after qualifying problems left him 10th on the grid.

Correa latched on to Blanchard's tail on the sixth lap and, two laps later, stormed past him and up to third under braking for the Goddards chicane. Tim fought back into Coppice next time around but an increasingly damp track made the manoeuvre all the more perilous; the two Mygales tangled and Blanchard spun into the gravel and out of the championship hunt.

His title rival out of the picture, Boyd knew he could afford to relax a little and so, when he came under attack from both Correa and Brown's Fluid Motorsport Van Diemen at the end of the penultimate lap, Wayne capitulated rather than risk a no-score. It was a classic Formula Ford last-gasp thriller, with Brown tucked right up under Boyd's tail as they crossed the line to start the final tour and Correa outfoxing them both to snatch the lead into Redgate.

Victor hung on in front of Brown by eight-hundredths to take his second race win of the season. "I can't believe it… It was a great race. I don't know what else to say!" said Correa. Added Brown: "Victor drove brilliantly. I'm gutted not to have won. I really wanted it." Boyd was a second-and-a-half behind for third.

Maliepaard took fourth, only just ahead of the leading Scholarship class contender, Chrissy Palmer, who as ever was revelling in the damp track conditions at the wheel of his Sterling Motorsport Ray. Rogier de Wit pipped his JTR team-mate Matt Hamilton to sixth, with Linton Stuteley, James Cole and Alex Jones rounding out the top 10.

The excitement of Sunday morning's race may have gripped the crowd but there was precious little grip out on the circuit, as several found to their cost. Most elected to start on wet tyres, and it was Boyd who made the early running from the pole and who built a two-second lead over Blanchard.

Brown was, however, determined to make up for his first-race disappointment. He did so by setting a succession of fastest laps in the drying conditions, sweeping past Blanchard for second on lap eight and then closing down Boyd and nailing him into the Goddards chicane two laps from the end.

David, who won the Scholarship Class title in 2006, held on in front to claim a popular maiden outright win and Van Diemen's second of the season. "At last," said Brown. "This has been a long time coming… It was a great race, so close all the way, I loved every minute."

Boyd and Blanchard finished in line astern with less than nine-tenths covering the top three at the line. Maliepaard was again fourth, this time ahead of his Getem team-mate Stuteley, and with Hamilton sixth from the Spectrums of Adrian Campfield and Scholarship Class victor Jones. Jamun drivers Cole and the slick-shod Correa completed the top 10.

Chrissy Palmer gambled on slicks and struggled to 12th overall and third in class, but the points he gained were enough to secure the 2008 Scholarship Class championship title for the 17-year-old West Sussex racer.

With the overall championship top three and the Scholarship top three already decided, Donington race three had a distinctly end-of-term feel to it as the combatants threw caution to the wind and thrilled the appreciative crowd.

Brown made a superb getaway to seize the lead from pole man Maliepaard into Redgate but struggled to make a break. David defended brilliantly, bottling up his pursuers - led initially by Maliepaard and then by Boyd - for six laps until an error was forced from Wayne as he rounded Coppice and he put all four wheels on to the grass. Blanchard, Correa and Campfield seized their opportunity to dump Boyd down to fifth and Brown made hay to increase his lead to a second and a half. Thereafter David never looked in danger of losing his second race victory of the day.

The battle for second place was far from concluded, however, with five cars abreast at several corners on each lap. Three tours from the end the inevitable tangle split the pack, Correa coming a cropper at Goddards and Boyd emerging from the scrum to secure second. Wayne was 3.4 seconds behind David at the line.

Campfield moved into third after Correa's exit and wasn't about to be dislodged no matter how hard Maliepaard, Stuteley, Blanchard and Hamilton tried during the course of the last two laps, and that's the order in which the protagonists finished. Cole took eighth, Garry Findlay ninth and the Scholarship class and guest driver Robert Souster an encouraging 10th for the SpeedSport team.