Ash Hands remarkable progress during his maiden campaign of car racing competition in 2013 saw him dicing wheel-to-wheel against a number of far more experienced adversaries in round three of the fiercely-contested Renault UK Clio Cup at Thruxtonbut Lady Luck would cruelly deny him a magnificent top five finish.

Hand travelled to the fearsomely-fast Hampshire circuit buoyed by a second consecutive top ten result in the British Touring Car Championship-supporting Clio Cup at Donington Park a fortnight earlierand eyeing a further leap up the starting grid.

I was really looking forward to Thruxton, enthused the talented young Nuneaton-based speed demon. I had enjoyed the test day there and we had shown good pace, and after the improvements wed made at Donington, my confidence was growing which left me full of optimism ahead of the weekend.

Eighth on the timesheets during testing, Hand took a step forward again in qualifying at Thruxton, surpassing his Donington best to line up an outstanding fifth for race one and sixth for race two in his Team Pyro-prepared Clio Renaultsport 200an eye-catching performance indeed when it is considered that the meeting represented only his third since graduating from karts.

Barely a quarter-of-a-second shy of the outright benchmark in the 23-strong Clio Cup field, the highly-rated Maple Park hotshot even contended that he could have gone faster still but for a red flag scuppering his best effortarguably costing him an extraordinary top three slot.

I was really pleased with qualifying, he justifiably asserted, because I knew that starting so near to the front, I would have a genuine chance in the racesand setting two laps at such a similar pace showed that I could be consistently quick, too, which was another boost. The car was probably the best it has been all season, so I owe a big thanks to all the guys at Pyro for working so hard.

Struggling to get away from the line in race onethe only remaining weakness in his armouryHand was left wheel-spinning when the starting lights went out, demoting him to 11th at the end of the opening lap and with a bent left rear axle to-boot following a knock from behind in the first corner crush.

The car kept wanting to drift through the fast right-handersand theres quite a few of them at Thruxton! he quipped. It was a bit of a handful at times, to be honest. I would be flat-out and could feel it trying to get away from me, which was a little disconcerting to say the least and the last thing you want around the quickest circuit in the country! I had to really coax it to get the best out of it, but the damage probably cost me three or four tenths a lap, which made for quite a tough race.

Be that as it may, the 19-year-old handled the situation superbly and even pulled off some sublime overtaking manoeuvres, taking advantage of a strong run out of Church to go all the way around the outside of Mike Bushell into the final chicane, proving that when it comes to a showdown of last-of-the-late-brakers, he has few equals.

Exhibiting his innate bravery and karting-honed racecraft, Hand ultimately fought his way onto the back of the duel over sixth place, despite admitting that being out of the towso vital around Thruxtonleft him reliant upon his rivals battling to allow him to close in.

Satisfied to finish eighth in the circumstances, his sole regret afterwards was not having capitalised upon his excellent grid position, but as a capacity crowd filled the grandstands the following day for the ITV4 live-televised second encounter, the Warwickshire teenager made sure there would be no repeat of that costly mistake.

I was a lot more prepared this time, he reasoned, and Id taken confidence from my racecraft on Saturday. I got a decent launch and only lost one place, and after crucially staving off the pack behind around the opening lap, I concentrated on working my way forward and hunting down the leaders. James Colburn was the first target on my list, and within a couple of laps Id caught and passed him at the Complex.

My car was working really well, and I quickly reeled in Josh Cook and Jake Giddings, who were tussling over fourth. Since they were scrapping so hard, I really had to time my move carefully and I knew I would need to pounce on the first opportunity I was given. The chance Id been waiting for appeared out of nowhere going through Noble on lap seven and I was able to slice past Giddings.

I then immediately set my sights on Cook, but he is very experienced in car racing and seemed to have a touch more straight-line speed than me, and he knew exactly how to defend his position. I had one go into the Complex on lap nine, but there was a little bit of contact and I had to back out of it. After that, although I stayed in his tow throughout, I could never quite get close enough again to really hazard an overtake.

To put those achievements into perspective, his move on Giddings was a tremendous display of karting-inspired opportunism, Colburn was the early-season championship leader and Cook is two times a UK Clio Cup race-winner and finished inside the top five in the overall standings in 2012yet Hand left the first two trailing and aggressively and determinedly harried the third right the way to the chequered flag.

Well, almost, for as the duo exited the final chicane for the last time, disaster struck and the #3, Sigma and QTS-backed car suddenly and unexpectedly slowed to a crawl, with an electrical issue dramatically denying its driver what would have been his finest finish to-date in fifth.

Understandably gutted about the misfortune, Hand nevertheless did not let the disappointment endure for long and took considerable encouragement from having lapped an impressive fourth-quickest in race two at Thruxtonindeed, fastest on the track on occasionand vaulted from 13th to ninth in the points table. As he turns his attentions towards round four at Oulton Park in early June, the series leading car racing rookie knows he has laid down a compelling marker.

I was really happy with my form and pace over the weekend, and I feel like Im getting more comfortable and increasingly bedded into the Clio Cup every time I take to the track, he concluded. Oulton is one of my favourite stops on the calendar; its a real drivers circuit and one that definitely rewards bravery. Ive always been quite fast there, so I just need to take everything Ive learned so far and put it to good useand if we do that, I dont see any reason why we cant aim for the podium.