Valles hopes title is first of many

Valles wrapped up the title for Liverpool at Jarama in Spain this weekend, and hopes it is the first of many with the Premier League club, whose training ground he visited last week to meet star players Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, as well as manager Rafa Benitez.

"To win this title is fantastic, but what makes it even better is that I'm doing it for Liverpool Football Club," said Valles. "It is such a big team and it was great to go there and get the support of the players and the manager, who all wished me luck for this weekend.

"It was a great moment when I crossed the finish line and knew I was champion. I hope to race for Liverpool for many years in this series and to repeat this success. They have lots of European titles, and I want to do that with them too."

Valles also praised the efforts of title rival Craig Dolby of Tottenham Hotspur, who stormed from 13th to second in the final race of the year.

"Craig did a great job, and it was like he had a rocket in his car in that second race today," Valles quipped.

Dolby said he had still enjoyed his charge through the field even though it was not enough to deny Liverpool and Valles the title.

"The goal this weekend was to score more points than anyone else, and we did that," said Dolby.

"The second race was a real buzz: I passed Adrian and Yelmer [Buurman] in one move at the restart, then passed Sebastien [Bourdais] around the outside. Not many people can say they've done that - I'll overtake anyone, anywhere!

"I did everything I could to win this championship, and even though I didn't, we've had a great year."