MOTOR RACING: Invincible Harvey

Tim Harvey overcame heavy rain and a spate of accidents to win the third and fourth rounds of the British Touring Car Championship at Brand's Hatch. Harvey, driving a Volvo 850, has now taken the lead in the championship following his pair of victories.

The Briton, who drove for Renault in 1994, gained particular delight in lapping the French cars, now run by Frank Williams' F1 team, during the first race. "We've got the best package at the moment, so you can imagine my feelings when I lapped those Renaults," Harvey said.

His Swedish team-mate, Rickard Rydell, matched his speed in the first race until his windscreen misted up, forcing him to make a pit-stop in order to clean it. That allowed the Ford Mondeos of Paul Radisich and Kelvin Burt to finish second and third respectively, just ahead of David Brabham, in a BMW.

But the drive of the race was by the privateer, Charley Cox, who sliced through the field to take fifth place ahead of several works cars.

By his own admission Harvey was lucky to win both races. He was stranded in the pit lane having a starter-motor replaced when the grid formed for the second of the day's races. But as the field completed its first lap, with Harvey at the tail, Radisich was involved in a collision that forced the race to be halted. As a new race was declared, Harvey was able to start from sixth place on the grid.

James Thompson, in a Vauxhall, and Rydell followed Harvey home, although the latter had a thrilling battle with Burt for the position and only passed his rival with one lap to go.

The former championship leader, John Cleland, crashed out of both races in spectacular fashion, the second time following a collision with Rydell as they battled for the lead.