CRESSING kart ace Tyrone Stansfield admitted to being "astonished" after securing a podium finish in his first time among the Super Elite ranks of the birelArt UK Karting Championship.

Having shown his speed at round one testing at Whilton Mill in March, the Alec Hunter Academy pupil displayed pace and maturity in the opening round at Llandow in Wales as he secured a hat-trick of third-place finishes.

Stansfield, who was the 2017 Junior class champion, qualified in fourth place for the opening heat race, but was just 0.3 seconds off the pole driver - the reigning Elite champion - and demonstrated his pace by moving up to third by the end.

That was where he started for the pre-final and despite pressure throughout from the reigning Masters champion, held on to his position to set up a top-three start for the final.

The Cressing youngster said he learned a lot from the final race as tyre management came into effect, but he was able to cross the line in third to make sure of a strong start to his season.

Stansfield said: "I was astounded to get a podium on my first outing in the new Super Elite class.

"With my qualifying result and the big names on the grid, we had said we would be more than happy with a top-ten finish as the other 24 drivers on grid, have so much more knowledge of racing in this class.

"I’ve got a lot to learn, but thank you to my dad for doing his upmost with the tyre situation and trying to give me the best set up.

"Also, thanks must go to my sponsors, K & B Tatam, G & B Finch, Kingwell Environmental and Bodyfit4training and also to my school, Alec Hunter, for their continued support."

The next round of the championship is in May at Clay Pigeon in Dorset.