COTSWOLD racing driver Alice Powell won the final two Formula Renault Asia races in China to be crowned the first ever female champion of the series.

The 21-year-old from Chipping Norton, a latecomer to the series, began the weekend 38 points adrift of the championship leader Maxx Ebenal (Canada) but she was in unstoppable form at the Zhuhai circuit.

Her two impressive wins saw her snatch the crown from Ebenal as well as Shigetomo Shimono (Japan).

In the opening race, Alice swiftly took the lead at turn one, having been in second place on the grid, and never looked back, winning by 5.5 seconds.

She lined up in third spot on the grid for the second and final race but another impressive start saw the former Cotswold School pupil take the lead heading into turn three before racing to a two-second victory.

With Ebenal failing to finish due to a mechanical failure, Alice's win was enough to secure the title.

"What a crazy weekend," said a delighted Alice.

"The car was great all weekend and my aim was just to win both races.

"In the second race, I didn’t know Max had a problem and it turns out I would not have won the championship if I didn’t win the race."

It has been a roller-coaster for the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) rising star. It was only at the last minute that she got a deal to drive in the first race of the British F3 Championship and then another late call to race in Formula Renault Asia.

Alice also got as far as the last 25 in the selection process for the British Skeleton team.

"It has been a mad year," she said. "Late deal after late deal, but I am very happy I had the chance to race and I am also happy with the opportunity from British Skeleton, even though I was not selected in the end.

As yet she has no confirmed drive in 2015 but she insisted: "I am already working hard on trying to race next year.”