A CUMBRIAN Aston Martin Racing driver secured his first podium finish with a 'spectacular' performance in Japan.

Alex MacDowall, 23, overcame extreme pressure to help his team finish third in the Six Hours of Fuki Craft-Bamboo Racing V8 Vantage GTE on Sunday, October 12.

The endurance event sees three teammates take it in shifts to complete the six hour race.

In qualifying, Alex's teammate had put the Aston on provisional pole position Alex kept his nerve to produce the fastest two laps of the day and ensure Aston started at the top of the grid.

It fell on Alex's shoulders to race the final hour and 40 minutes.

Having been battling it out with the top two teams of Ferrari and Porsche all day, Carlisle-born Alex managed to bring the car across the line in third place which secured a first ever podium finish for Aston Martin Racing who only joined the GTE competition this year.

A delighted Alex said: ""The team really clicked this weekend. To podium in our fifth ever WEC race is awesome. The team did a blinding job giving us a great car and great strategy. I love it when everything works this well. My teammates Fernando and Darryl put in great stints and we set consistently fast laps plus, with the team doing great pit stops, I think we truly earned our podium.

“We can’t let this go to our heads. I’m excited for the next race in Shanghai as it’s a track I loved in my World Touring Car Championship days but we’re under no illusions that we need to keep the intensity and keep working hard as when we race with the best in the world you can never afford to relax."

His next race will be in Shanghai on November 1.