RISING British Touring Car Championship star Tom Boardman has set his sights on claiming third place in the 2002 BTC Production class.

With just four races remaining - and two of those this Bank Holiday Monday - the Lancashire lad effectively now cannot catch leader James Kaye or second-placed Norman Simon.

But the final end-of-season trophy-winning position is well within his grasp.

And he intends to lay down the challenge for third during Monday's (August 26th) Rounds 17 and 18 of the Green Flag-sponsored series at Brands Hatch, Kent, in his Edenbridge Racing BMW 320i.

The teenager is just seven points off fourth place and a further 11 behind third - a gap that can be easily closed with 17 points available for a race win.

History is in the Forton based driver's favour as well.

On the championship's first 2002 visit to Brands Hatch in April, Boardman came home second in Round 2, a feat he will be looking to repeat, or even better, this time round.

The 18-year-old says: "I've set my heart on finishing third now.

I was hoping to carry on the fight to the top two, but after the last races at Knockhill that isn't possible in atrocious conditions, two spins saw Boardman finish ninth and eighth in Rounds 15 and 16.

I know I can beat the two guys ahead of me in the championship and that's what I intend to do."

He adds: "I really like Brands Hatch.

It's a great place for racing as there are lots of places where you can overtake.

It's also a good circuit for the braver drivers as the first corner is one of the most daunting in the country.

It is a blind right-hander that plunges away underneath you and has been known to catch out a lot of people.

"But it is also one of the best places to get past someone as - if you are daring enough - you can out-brake people and dive down the inside.

That move often surprises your rivals and it also forces them onto the wider outside line of the corner, which means they lose momentum going up the hill in to the hairpin.

So you can gain a big advantage in one corner - and that's what I'll be aiming to do."

Boardman will be in action on Sunday (August 25) in qualifying for both races.

Round 17 (25 laps) is scheduled to start at 12.45pm on Monday (August 26), while the 40-lap Round 18 should get underway at 4.20pm.

The highlights of the races will be shown on ITV on the afternoon of Saturday, August 31.