ADD Motorsports driver Oli Norris was delighted to kick-start his season with a podium place in the opening round of the Rotax Max Euro Challenge. The 16-year-old Glastonbury racer moved up an amazing 32 places from his starting position to secure third place in a weekend that saw Oli back to his best.And his brilliant performances in the senior category didnt go unnoticed by the Genk race organisers, who also presented him with the driver of the weekend award.He said: It was pretty good to start where I did and end up in third place so Im really happy with how I raced.It was a lot better than other weeks, I was really quick. Its really shown me how important it is to qualify in a good position - you want to be near the front to give yourself the best chance in a race.During qualifying and in the heats, Oli consistently found himself with the fastest lap times, but couldnt find the consistency required for a good starting position.

He began the final near the back of the grid but by the first corner had brilliantly out-manouevred his rivals to move up 10 places.Even the snow that began to fall mid-way through the race couldnt hamper Olis progress, which at one stage saw him push into second place.

But despite some fierce battles with the leading pack, he was happy to finally finish in third.He said: We were really quick during testing, but in qualifying I didnt do a great jobI wasnt in the right positions.But in the final I moved up from 15th to fifth by the first corner. Everyone was really tight and the cars were all pushing across and I took advantage to get in front of them.It was the first time I had started on the inside lane and it really helped.Seeing where I began, I didnt really think I could do it, but somehow I did so it was great to win the driver of the weekend.This will hopefully go on to help my season now.Oli now heads to Sarno for the next challenge in the WSK Masters Series.