Herbie rides again to clinch Speedcar crown.

Johnny Herbert secured his first championship title since claiming the Le Mans Series laurels alongside Jamie Davies in 2004 when he triumphed in the final two races of the inaugural Speedcar Series in Dubai - and with it clinched the championship crown.

After entering the finale lying just fourth in the points' standings - behind Uwe Alzen, former Sauber Formula 1 team-mate Jean Alesi and David Terrien - the three-time grand prix winner blitzed his rivals not once, but twice to storm to glory and secure his long-overdue maiden successes in the Middle Eastern stock car series.

Having qualified fifth in the 13-car field - containing such other luminaries as 1997 F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, double Le Mans 24 Hours winner JJ Lehto and 1980s Ferrari and McLaren star Stefan Johansson amongst others - Herbert went on to prevail in the opening race at the end of a fantastic 40-minute scrap with Alesi, Gianni Morbidelli and former world karting king David Terrien.

The 'Romford Rocket' took the chequered flag seven tenths of a second clear of the latter - with fastest lap to his name to boot - and in the process made up for his agonising DNF the previous weekend in Bahrain, when he had dominated proceedings before being forced out with gear selection issues, as well as propelling himself into outside title contention.

"After my bad luck in Bahrain, where I could have won the first [race] and definitely would have won the second, it's nice to get a win," Herbert confessed, having sung enthusiastically along to the British National Anthem on the post-race podium. "When I got in the lead, I was trying to make no mistakes, but seeing David in my mirrors didn't help! We made some changes to the car after qualifying, and they definitely benefited me."

Though the reverse top eight grid system meant he began the second race from down in eighth spot, Herbert did not let this deter him as he soon moved up to fifth, with title favourite Terrien having made a terrible start and Alesi beginning all the way down in 14th after an engine failure had torpedoed his chances in race one.

Herbert's first victim of note was Alzen, who he passed for second place early on, whilst Alesi exited stage right after colliding with front row starter Hasher Al Maktoum as the pair battled over ninth place, the long-time championship leader seeing his dreams of glory disappear in a cloud of smoke on the spot.

The next protagonist to run into trouble was Alzen - by now in the strongest position of any of the title contenders following Alesi's retirement - as an ambitious move on Johansson for third place failed to come off, the Swede shutting the door causing the pair to make contact and the former DTM ace picking up a puncture for his efforts, destroying his championship hopes.

That meant Herbert and Terrien were left to battle it out for honours, and the duo would move to the front by dint of catching and passing erstwhile race leader Marchy Lee in the closing stages. Herbert ultimately pulled away to win by almost seven seconds at the flag - again with fastest lap to his name - and whilst Terrien doggedly secured second place, thereby bringing him level on points with the Briton at the top of the table, Johnny's greater number of runner-up spots over the course of the season saw him crowned by the very narrowest of margins.

"Incredible!" the 43-year-old enthused afterwards, at the same time vowing to return to defend his title next year. "I knew what I had to do this weekend and win both races, but I knew it would be a tall order.

"I took every chance I had, and a few of the others had their problems. I can't believe the way it happened - to end the season level on points is amazing."