HE WAS driving at speeds approaching 160mph in the third and fourth rounds of the Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship at Rockingham on Sunday. But Liam McMillan, 17, faced arguably his biggest driving challenge last week when he got behind the wheel of a Ni

HE WAS driving at speeds approaching 160mph in the third and fourth rounds of the Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship at Rockingham on Sunday.

But Liam McMillan, 17, faced arguably his biggest driving challenge last week when he got behind the wheel of a Nissan Micra on the streets of Wisbech.

The motor racing sensation was aiming to pass his driving test in his home town but would he be able to keep his speed down and maintain his nerve around the Horse Fair roundabout?

Fortunately for Liam, he passed first time and avoided the potential embarrassment of failure, largely thanks to his driving instructor, Tony Lucas.

Tony, 41, from Emneth, is an independent driving instructor with ANTZ Driving School and was impressed with his student's ability.

He said: "Liam is a great lad and he was a pleasure to teach. A lot of youngsters can be a bit big-headed and arrogant behind the wheel but he was totally different.

"He flew through his test and had only a couple of minor faults. Usually, you can expect eight minor faults in a test pass so it shows how good he was."

Despite Liam's impressive performance, there were a couple of racing habits that Tony had to iron out. He explained: "At first he found it difficult to get used to cars approaching him from the opposite direction and some of his stopping distances were also a bit questionable!"

He added: "The fact he was race testing at 165mph the day before his driving test gave me a few extra grey hairs.

But luckily, his examiner was a former racing driver so they were able to have a good chat and I am sure that helped Liam to relax during the test.