OFFICIALS had to study a photo of the finish to decide whether Matthew Robinson could stand on the podium at Donington Park on Sunday afternoon.

In the end, he missed out on third place by just four thousandths of a second.

“I was a fingernail away,” he rued afterwards.

“To take part in a race described by one commentator as among the best they’d ever seen is something I can remember for a long time.”

Robinson returned home to Rudheath with a sizeable points haul following the latest round of the British Superkart Association (BSA) National Championship for 125cc machines.

The 21-year-old improved on a lap record for the circuit by two seconds during qualifying, but he was pipped to pole position by Liam Morley.

He started the last lap fourth, but slipped a place before the finish after an ambitious overtaking move didn’t work out.

A water pump failure ended early his involvement in the second sprint, leaving him to start the final race from the grid’s fifth row.

The Lancaster University student, who recently finished a year-long work placement at Volkswagen UK in Milton Keynes, rose to seventh by the end of the first lap.

With three left he sat fourth, a position he still occupied after a thrilling drag to the line.

It leaves him fifth in the drivers’ standings ahead of the season’s penultimate round at Anglesey, in Wales, in September.