Howell was nearly seven seconds behind local star and current championship leader Gordon Shedden, but his runner-up spot consolidated his second place in the overall title standings.

The Bromley racer had a ding-dong tussle with veteran driver Colin Stancombe, who went nose-to-tail for all of the 22-lap race with Howell edging out his rival by just more than two hundredths of a second.

Howell said: "I always knew that Gordon (Shedden) was going to be hard to beat in front of his home crowd, and I was proved right. It was one of the hardest Fiesta races I've ever had but I really enjoyed it."