Scott Thwaites (Endura Racing) has been crowned British circuit race champion.

The 22-year-old finished ahead of teammate, and former champion, Russell Downing, to complete a memorable one-two for the Scottish-based squad at Otley.

Thwaites, who won two rounds of the recent Halfords Tour Series, said his team had adopted a similar approach.

“I have been on good form and it’s always nice to win the National Champs but I didn’t really set it as a goal because I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself,” he said.

Russell Downing, who lifted the title in 2009, was runner up for a second time. In 2005, he lost out to Mark Cavendish, but went on to better things.

“I got second in the National Circuit Race Champs the year I won the Road Race Champs so maybe it’s a good omen;  we’ll see,” he said.

The Yorkshireman admitted he had been in two minds about racing after an injury suffered in the recent

He paid a generous tribute to the quality of domestic racing, to which he returned this season after two years in the UCI WorldTour with Team Sky.

“What I’ve noticed in the racing tonight and in other races is the strength in depth and everyone is working as a team. It’s no longer just two riders from a team you have to look for, everyone is doing credit to the sport and the racing has stepped up in Britain this year,” he said.

Rapha Condor Sharp and Team IG-Sigma Sport were among Endura Racing’s rivals who rode an aggressive race, and riders from the 100% ME team launched a series of attacks in the early stages of the race.

Defending champion, Graham Briggs (Raleigh-GAC) finished fifth.

British circuit race championships – result

1) Scott Thwaites (Endura)
2) Russ Downing (Endura)
3) Matt Cronshaw (Node4 Giordana)
4) Chris Opie (Team UK Youth)
5) Graham Briggs (Raleigh GAC)
6) Daniel McLay (Lotto-Belisol)
7) Owain Doull (100%ME)
8) Jonathan McEvoy (Endura)
9) Peter Williams (Node4 Giordana)
10) Dean Downing (Rapha Condor Sharp)