Tom Jackson climbed from last place to claim his maiden Formula 4 victory – but didn’t know he’d won.

The Maidstone driver only realised when he parked up and saw his dad in tears.

Jackson reaped the rewards for gambling on slick tyres on a wet-dry track for race two at Snetterton, Norfolk, last weekend.

He dropped from 16th on the grid to 20th place early on before carving through the field. His Chris Dittman team couldn’t keep up with his progress, so Jackson had no idea he’d won.

He said: “My team stopped putting information out on the pit board because I was overtaking so many cars each lap. As I crossed the line, I could see my dad screaming and shouting and signalling a No.1 on the in-lap.

“I carried on going at race pace and when I got back to parc ferme, I was the first car in. I couldn’t believe it. I had a photographer in front of me and could see my dad jumping up and down and crying.

“I’d finally won a race after three-and-a-half years of trying.”

Jackson was one of only three drivers to choose slick tyres.

He said: “I had nothing to lose starting so far back on the grid so I took the gamble. I struggled for grip early on but it paid off in the second half of the race."

Jackson sits third in the championship. The next round is at Brands Hatch on August 1-2.