ED Jones and Farnham-based team Carlin have clinched the 2016 Indy Lights Driver’s and Team titles in a dramatic finale to the series.

Jones held the championship lead heading into the final race at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca road course in California, but slipped back to fifth on the opening lap.

However, by taking fourth on the final lap, and holding it, the Carlin man sealed the title. Carlin claimed the team championship by 29 points over Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

Jones began the race from pole position with a seven-point lead over his only championship rival, Santiago Urrutia.

The tension rose as the first rolling start was aborted and the cars were sent round to form again.

This time, Jones led into the first corner, but had the fast-starting Zach Veach and Urrutia right behind him. With his title at stake, Jones avoided contact and Veach and Urrutia were able to get past. In the melee, Kyle Kaiser also stole through, along with Jones’ team-mate, Felix Serralles.

A full-course yellow condensed the field after Garett Grist ran off the track. At the restart, Jones just failed to get past Serralles and as the race continued, Jones stood to finish runner-up in the series, with he and Urrutia tied on equal points, but the former having more race wins.

The focus of the race moved to Serralles and Jones, with the pair yo-yoing during the final laps.

On the last lap, Jones finally squeezed through into fourth and crossed the line with enough points to be the champion.

He also claims the coveted scholarship prize, valued at $1million, which ensures entry in a minimum of three races in the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series, including the iconic Indy 500.

Jones said: “It just feels incredible to be standing here as Indy Lights champion and to know that I will be able to line up on the grid for the Indy 500. It’s a testament to the Mazda Road to Indy as a genuine motorsport ladder.

“And it’s a great result for Carlin as a new team in America.”

Trevor Carlin added: “Ed has done a fantastic job this year. He’s been consistently strong for the last two seasons and I’m so pleased to see that rewarded with the title.

“The entire team have been an absolute pleasure to work with. Colin (Hale) and the guys have pulled together to create a fantastic team.

“To challenge for the title in our debut season in America and to go one step further and clinch both titles is an amazing achievement. I can’t wait to see what we can do together in 2017.”

Ricky Collard, also of Carlin, finished runner-up in the 2016 BRDC British F3 Championship after a tumultuous weekend at Donington.

He headed to Donington with a 25-point lead over main rival Matheus Leist and the Hampshire man continued to look good in qualifying. But Collard’s strong season began to unravel in the first race when he was left stranded in the gravel trap.

Leist went on to win and Collard now had a point deficit of 25 going into the last two races of the season.

Collard and Carlin team-mate James Pull, making a promising debut in the series, finished 10th and 11th respectively in race two.

The odds were thus stacked heavily against Collard in the final race. His only chance of the championship was a non-finish for Leist and at least second place for himself. He made progress, but couldn’t pass Leist without risk of contact and finished sixth behind the new champion. Pull took the flag in eighth place.