Lynn still dominant with another double at Oulton park

Alex Lynn continued to be unstoppable in the 2011 Formula Renault UK 2.0 Championship as he clicked off another double victory after two more fine displays at Oulton Park.

Having dominated qualifying by grabbing the number one slot on the grid for both of Sunday’s races, the first encounter was a relatively easy run to flag after a strong start in still quite tricky conditions kept him ahead of fellow front row starter Jack Hawksworth for the first lap of the race, while his team-mate Oliver Rowland was handed fourth place when Jordan King crashed at Druids on the second lap.

Hawksworth spent the opening couple of laps following Lynn closely, but could not apply enough pressure to create an opportunity to pass, and after the early stages of the race the Fortec driver found his rhythm and pulled away to win the first race by 1.7s and re-take the championship lead in the process.

Mark Burdett drvier Hawksworth finished in second for his second podium appearance of the season ahead of the championship leader entering the round, Tio Ellinas, who’s seventh podium of the season wasn’t enough for the Atech GP driver to maintain his championship lead.  Lynn’s Fortec team-mate Oliver Rowland finished in fourth place, aso taking Graduate Cup honours.

Atech Reid GP drivers Oscar King and Dan Wells put in strong performances to finish fifth and sixth respectively, while Formula Ford graduate Daniel Cammish finished in seventh place just 0.176s off Wells on a very encouraging competitive debut in Formula Renault ahead of Manor Competition’s Josh Hill and Alice Powell.

The second race later that afternoon was dominated by Lynn and the Fortec team who put on a fine display despite it being another quite processional affair, as Lynn made another good start to lead into the first corner ahead of team-mates Rowland and Gilbert. The trio held those positions till the end to complete a Fortec 1-2-3, ahead of Ellinas in fourth place.

It is also worth noting that this is the second Fortec podium lockout in as many weeks, after its Formula Renault BARC outfit did the same at Oulton Park the week before with Josh Webster, Kieron Vernon and Archie Hamilton doing likewise.

It was almost a perfect result for the team as fellow Fortec racer Felix Serralles was in fourth for most of the race and set to complete a perfect result for the four car team, however the Puerto Rican driver was passed on the final lap by Ellinas, finishing fifth ahead of Manor Competition trio Powell, Hill and Ollie Millroy.

Wells, running eighth after the first lap, was enjoying his most competitive meeting of the season so far until an optimistic late lunge by team-mate Oscar King at Island hairpin on lap two saw him drive into the rear of Wells’ car. Both continued but Wells later retired due to the damage, while a rear suspension failure for King saw his race end in the gravel.

As a reward for his achievements so far, Lynn will be a guest of Lotus Motorsport at this month’s European Grand Prix for a two-day programme.

UPDATE: The Fortec team were also given another boost when their appeal against the exclusion of the cars of Lynn and Rowland for technical irregularities in the second race at Donington earlier in the season was successful, meaning the pair reclaim their top three results and gifting Lynn an extended championship lead.

Championship standings after rounds 7/8:

1: Alex Lynn, 264

2: Eftihios Ellinas, 216

3: Oliver Rowland, 170

4: Ollie Millroy, 152

5: Jack Hawksworth, 151

6: Josh Hill, 126

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