The 2013 Pata European Junior Cup delivered a fittingly close and nail-biting finale in today’s last round at the spectacular Jerez circuit in southern Spain.

The race - and with it, the title - was won by New Zealand’s Jake Lewis, who took victory after eight laps of the 4.423km Jerez circuit by just 0.036s over his closest championship rival Augusto Fernandez of Spain.

The first eight riders across the line were covered by less than 0.8s, maintaining the European Junior Cup’s reputation for remarkably close and utterly compelling racing on evenly matched Honda CBR500R machines.

It was an impressive ride from Lewis, who had to work his way up from 14th place on the grid after qualifying problems yesterday. His third win of the season secured his championship victory by 10 points over Fernandez.

British rider Josh Harland took the final podium place in third, but Robin Anne from France, who was also in the running for the championship title, could do no better than 20th place today.

“I can’t believe it!” said 18-year-old Lewis after today’s race. “I knew I had to give it my all from the word go and that’s what I did. I’d like to thank everyone that helped me this year, especially my Dad, as I wouldn’t be here without him!”

It was announced over the Jerez weekend that the Pata European Junior Cup will return with another eight-round series in 2014 supporting the World Superbike championship on Honda’s impressive CBR500R machine.