ALEX Storckenfeldt (Ljungskile, Sweden) overcame mechanical problems to top the times in the Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin testing at Croft Circuit this afternoon.

The 20-year-old suffered a broken drive shaft and was forced to sit out for an hour of the three-and-a-half hour session. But once the glitch was fixed the Team AKA ace set the pace with a 1m 18.339s lap.

Fortec Motorsport drivers were only a fraction behind with Stuart Hall (Halstead, Essex) recording a 1m 18.395s lap and Yelmer Buurman (Ubbergen, Netherlands) seven hundredths behind that.

The result marks a return to form for Storckenfeldt. At Thruxton the Swede came second in one round and won the other but since then he has failed to finish on two occasions and is currently in ninth position overall.

“We’ve been a bit unlucky at the past two race meetings,” he said. “We just didn’t get it right. Now we’re back on top.

“We’ve just been consistently quick today. Croft is a really nice circuit. The only problem is that it’s hard to overtake so qualifying is really important.

“We’re going to be working really hard to turn this result into a place on the grid.”

Championship leader Oliver Jarvis (Hawksworth, Leeds) had to make do with fourth place with a 1m 18.510s lap. The Manor Motorsports’ main championship rival, Fortec’s Sebastian Hohenthal was even further back in seventh.

In the Graduate Cup Will Bratt (Adderbury, Banbury) finished four tenths faster than his main rival Richard Keen (Amersham, Bucks) who is currently leading the points in the B4 Group.

For all the latest Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin news visit the official Renault Sport UK website www.renaultsport.co.uk built by Racecar