Lynn Crowned Formula Renault UK Champion
Alex Lynn secured the CERTINA Formula Renault UK Championship with a round to spare at Silverstone, after taking a convincing victory in round nineteen.
It would turn out to be a perfect weekend for the Fortec squad, who in the second race of the day managed to take second place in the championship, after Oliver Rowland managed to overhaul Tio Ellinas in dramatic fashion.
In the process of taking victory in race one, Lynn also broke the championships record for wins in a season, taking his tally to twelve.
The eighteen-year-old dominated race one from the first lap, taking a lights to flag victory six seconds ahead of team-mate Oliver Rowland and Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Dan Cammish.
In taking victory Lynn not only sealed the title and broke James Matthews seventeen-year-old win record, he also blitzed the previous Formula Renault 2.0 lap record with a time of 53.838secs – over four tenths quicker than James Calado’s pervious best lap in 2008.
“This is an absolutely fantastic feeling,” said Lynn. “I don’t think that it will quite sink in for me until tomorrow morning. I made a good start off the line at the beginning of the race and the car felt very good; we were able to show a lot of pace. Looking ahead to this afternoon, I’m just going to go out there and push as hard as I possibly can to end the season on a high.
“I don’t know why, but I was worried the car was going to break down on the last lap,” added Richard Dutton of Fortec Motorsports. “He’s done a fantastic job; he’s on fire. It’s been a great year, an amazing year in fact.”
The in-form Rowland pushed his team-mate hard in the opening laps, but eventually had to settle for second place and another graduate cup victory.
“Off the line I got a good start,” explained a frustrated Rowland. “I got into second and then I tried to push for the fastest lap but Alex was just too quick, along with that I also made a few errors. We’ll have to see if we can make a few improvements for later and hopefully I will be able to get the win.”
Third placed Cammish qualified a seasons best of second place for race one, and after putting Rowland under pressure in the early stages, he battled with team-mate Jack Hawksworth.
“It wasn’t a bad race for us,” said Cammish. “I think that starting in third would have been a bit more of an advantage though. I dropped to third immediately, had the pace and managed to pull a respectable lead over Jack. From then on it was just a matter of being consistent to finish on the podium.”
Hawksworth was soon joined by Tio Ellinas, and a thrilling battle broke out between the former team-mates, which saw Ellinas take fourth place on the penultimate lap of the race in the Brooklands corner. Ellinas’ fourth place finish wasn’t enough to stop Lynn taking the title.
“On Friday and Saturday we were a bit off with the car,” said Ellinas in a reflective mood. “We have done a great job to find a good setup with the car for the race, I think I set the second fastest lap of the race so that is a positive.
“For the next race I am back in P6 again, so I will have to try to make my way through the field again to finish on the podium. I now have to ensure that I secure second in the championship.”
It wasn’t quite a perfect weekend for the newly crowned champion. In race two Lynn started on pole ahead of team-mates Mitchell Gilbert and Oliver Rowland, the latter looking to score the runner-up spot in the championship from Ellinas.
Rowland made a lightning start, overtaking Gilbert around the outside before making a bold move on Lynn, which resulted in the pair making contact.
From that point Rowland never looked back, and romped home to take race victory, fastest lap and the runner-up spot in the championship.
“A good start was a necessity in that race,” said Rowland. “I knew that I had to get past Mitch and attack Alex on the first few laps, at times I thought that it wouldn’t be possible, but into that first corner I braked really late and pulled off the move. I couldn’t really believe it for five laps so I made a few mistakes, once I came round I knew that I had to push and focus. To get the fastest lap on the last lap just means everything.”
After an early spin ,Lynn made his way back through the pack setting a series of fastest laps. With Ellinas stuck behind Cammish, Rowland needed the two points that are awarded with the fastest lap of the race to secure second in the championship.
With the laps running out, it looked unlikely he would beat Lynn’s time of 54.419sec. Rowland began a series of hot laps, on the final of which he set a 54.001sec, to take the runner-up spot on count back of victories.
Gilbert topped off a good weekend for Fortec, claiming second place ahead of the impressive Cammish.
“I found it difficult to start off the line on the dirty side of the track,” said Gilbert. “When Oliver and Alex tangled I thought that hopefully I would be able to progress, unfortunately they both got through. Alex went off at Brooklands, from there I tried to push Oliver but he managed to pull away. I’m very pleased to end the season on the podium”
“It was a hard race but very enjoyable,” said Cammish. “Tio was hounding me lap after lap. To begin with I thought that this might get a bit lively but he wasn’t able to make a move to pass me. I just had nothing left to give at the end of the day. Third is the best that we could of hoped for.”
Further down the order, a number of drivers picked up drive through penalties for exceeding track limits. Manor Motorsports Alice Powell, Atech Reid’s Oscar King and newly crowned champion Lynn all served penalties.
For full results click here
Mike Trusler
