Malfunctioning windscreen wipers did not deny a Duxford racer a successful return to racing after a 14-year exodus.

Taking part in round one of the 2016 BARC Mini Challenge Championship at Brands Hatch over the Easter weekend, Sam Robertson Tomlinson claimed a terrific fourth place finish in race one after starting seventh on the grid on the Saturday.

Following his opening race heroics, Robertson Tomlinson ran into difficulties moments before race two on Sunday, with his windscreen wipers and electrics failing during torrential rain that later left the leader on the roof of his vehicle.

He soldiered on for five laps before having to resort to the pits to have his windscreen cleaned. However, he managed to collect ninth place to draw a memorable weekend to a close.

Robertson Tomlinson told the Crow: “The whole race weekend was very exciting and I was really happy to be on the grid.

“The first race couldn’t have gone much better apart from finishing higher.

“I ran into trouble in the second race with the car but it’s all part of the experience.

“After looking through the data I had the second quickest time in the second race (one minute 13.678 seconds), quickest and winner time of 1.13.577 but with no visibility and still delivering the fastest lap in race one, it should stand me in good stead for the rest of the year.”

After spending his teenage years kart racing, including one British Championship at the age of 15, his dream was always to move into professional racing.

At the age of 18, he entered three car racing scholarships and made it through to the final in each one but never quite made the grade so pursued a motorsport-related degree at Swansea University.

After many years working around the country in the automotive industry, Robertson Tomlinson moved back to Cambridgeshire and put all his energy into returning to the hotseat.

Robertson Tomlinson continued: “With the support and backing of Skip UK, based in Orchard Business Centre, Royston and Camclad Steelwork Ltd, Sawston, we managed to get a great package with the car and team to be competitive for this year’s championship and that’s amazing for us.”

Barry Dean and Trevor Tinker, managing directors of Skip UK, said “We are extremely happy that we are in partnership with Sam for this year’s championship and with what he showed at Brands Hatch, he still has the ability to win and we are confident he will deliver some great results this year.”

Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire, is the venue for the next round of action on the weeekend of May 14/15.

For more information on the team, follow @skipukmini on Twitter.