JONNY Lang has finally been crowned British GT champion - almost two months after his final race of the season.

Lang, from Barrowford, and his driving partner Matt Allison were handed the GTC class title following a tribunal hearing organised by the sports governing body, the MSA.

The pair had been left in limbo at the end of the Silverstone finale because of a hotly-disputed penalty that had been handed to their championship rivals Ryan Hooker and Phil Keen.

Lang and Allison, who raced a Porsche 993 for the Trackspeed team, had been involved in a season-long battle with the pair, which culminated in an on-track clash.

Stewards at the meeting adjudged Keen to be at fault, handing the team an eight-second penalty and leaving Lang and Allison effectively the champions.

But Keen and Hooker appealed against the decision and in a behind-closed-doors meeting, had their penalty rescinded.

"We felt we were the moral winners, and had no alternative but to take the matter to the MSA for them to make the final judgement, and they agreed with us - thankfully," said Lang, 26.

"No-one likes to win a championship in a courtroom, and it really took the shine off our achievement, but we had no choice in the matter.

"It was important for our long-term plans for potential sponsors and team owners to see that we were the rightful winners.

"I was on holiday in Borneo when the news came through, I got a garbled message on my phone from Matt, who clearly had been celebrating our victory!"

It's been a remarkable 12 months for Lang, a company director at Optic Lighting in Nelson.

Just twelve months ago he was contesting the North West Formula Ford Championship, and now following a debut season in British GT's - which netted four race wins - he stands on the brink of a drive in the World GT Championship.

"To go from a club championship to a national title in 12 months has been fantastic for me, but I couldn't have done it without the help of my sponsors and the faith shown in me by Piers Maserati, who runs Trackspeed.

"The logical step now is for Matt and I to try and stay together next season. We've proved we have the pace and we are now looking very seriously at the FIA GT series," he added.

"We've been talking to sponsors and to teams, and have lined-up a drive in an Ascari in two weeks time in Barcelona for a round of the Spanish GT Championship.

"The idea is to see how the car performs and assess the potential for 2007. I would say we are 60 per cent there, and our aim is to be on the grid for the first round in China on March 25."

l Jonny Lang is sponsored by Aston Ventures, ATL Surveys of Blacko and Optic Lighting of Nelson.