Brands Hatch Indy Circuit set the stage yesterday for Jeremy Metcalfe’s most successful test session since debuting in Formula Renault UK at the start of the year; the 17-year-old finishing his day’s work seventh fastest overall on the timesheets.The Fleet-based teenager, making his first official outing as a Team AKA driver ahead of the weekend’s opening two 2005 Winter Championship races, posted a best lap of 45.509 seconds (96.99mph) on the Kent circuit’s 1.22-mile Indy configuration, ending the day just half a second down on experienced Formula Renault competitor Cheng Congfu.“It was one of those tests”, commented Metcalfe, “It started wet, then went dry, was wet again and then dried out towards the end. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any running on slick tyres but people like Cheng did so we’re fairly happy to only be half a second down on his fastest lap.“There was definitely more time to come from both myself and the car for that reason, so we have to be pretty satisfied with what we achieved. I had hoped for a bit better but seventh isn’t too bad at all.“Hopefully we’ll be able to finalise a good set-up tomorrow during free practice and then head into qualifying on Saturday in good shape. We seem to be progressing every time we go out on track so we’re really looking forward to the weekend.”Metcalfe’s quickest time of the day placed him less than two 100ths of a second shy of new team-mate, Venezuelan Rodolfo Gonzalez, and only a 10th of a second adrift of experienced Formula Renault Eurocup racer, Dutchman Junior Strous.The Hampshire ace was also, notably, half a second faster than highly rated AKA driver Oliver Oakes – the reigning World Karting Champion.On-track action resumes tomorrow, Friday, 4th November, during two one-hour ‘free practice’ sessions with qualifying for the opening two races of the 2005 Formula Renault UK Winter Championship scheduled for Saturday, 5th November. Rounds one and two will then take place on Sunday, 6th November.