Dartford's Alex Nevill is dreaming of a crack at the British Touring Car Championship after a strong breakthrough campaign on the track.

After 12 years racing karts, the 24-year-old made the step up to cars in the Mini Challenge at the start of this season.

Nevill leads the Cooper Am class having won eight of the nine races so far.

He said: "It's been mega. I've really enjoyed the experience.

"The moment we got into the car, it just felt right, which doesn't happen that often.

"We showed up at Donington Park for the first race and were able to get on pole and win both races.

"That was very surprising because the guys we were up against had a lot more testing time than us and were a lot more prepared. We were really pleased with that.

"Snetterton is a local circuit for most of the guys competing in the Mini Challenge but we managed to win the three races there.

"We left there feeling like 'if we can win there, we can win anywhere' so that was really where the confidence started to set in for the year."

Nevill's season reaches new heights this weekend when the Mini Challenge arrives at Brands Hatch, his home circuit.

"Brands is something I'm hugely excited for," he said. "I was first introduced to motorsport at Brands when I was two years old and my dad took me along to the touring cars.

"I've practically grown up at the place so to finally get to race there is hugely exciting. I can't wait for the weekend to get started.

"The Mini Challenge offers a great ladder system all the way up to BTCC level.

"We'd love to follow it through to that stage in a couple of years time but motorsport is very difficult in that respect.

"It does come down to securing funding as well as having the talent to deliver results but as long as we can keep this momentum going, it's something we can work towards."