Manor Competition concluded the opening two-day official test of the Formula Renault UK pre-season at Rockingham Motor Speedway today delighted with the progress made and especially the pace shown by category front-runner Alexander Sims.The 18-year-old Peterborough star, who along with team-mates Kris Loane and Richard Singleton is eligible to challenge for the Graduate Cup as well as the full Formula Renault UK title this year, shone during the entire Rockingham test with a best lap over the course of the two days of 1m 16.077 seconds (92.228mph) for the New Ollerton squad.Having concluded Thursday’s sessions sixth fastest on the timesheets overall, Sims improved by half a second today to edge tantalisingly close to a lap under the 1m 16 second barrier. Although the slowest period of the day, this afternoon’s third and final session saw Sims post the second fastest time to cap a very successful two days.Northern Irishman Kris Loane impressed as he prepares to embark on his first full season in Formula Renault UK, the 18-year-old lapping on the International Supersports layout with a best time of 1m 16.842 seconds (91.309mph) today, placing him 12th overall, which was an improvement of two 10ths of a second on his Thursday best.For Welsh pairing Alex Morgan and Richard Singleton, the test saw both working hard throughout to improve but while reigning Formula Renault BARC Champion Singleton had the benefit of two full days of running, for compatriot Morgan a terrible virus left him feeling well below par.Although missing the vast majority of Wednesday’s track time, 19-year-old Morgan chose to venture out in his car for just seven laps and produced a sterling effort to be within six 10ths of a second of Sims with a lap of 1m 17.158 seconds (90.935mph).While still feeling under the weather, Morgan took part in all three of today’s sessions and posted an eventual best of 1m 16.904 seconds (91.236mph). Singleton, meanwhile, improved by half a second between the two days and ended the test just a 10th of a second shy of Morgan with a time of 1m 17.047 seconds (91.066mph).“We’re really very happy indeed”, commented Manor Competition boss Tony Shaw at the end of the second day’s testing, “Everyone has done a lot of hard work over the last couple of days and all four of our drivers made a lot of progress, even though on the majority of our new tyre runs we hit traffic on the important laps.“Alexander has been quick throughout the test, he really is shaping up to be a very exciting prospect in Formula Renault, and Kris did very well to be within eight 10ths of Alexander’s best today.”Shaw continued: “Unfortunately for Alex he’s been suffering from an awful virus, he missed almost the entire test yesterday but did a fantastic job to lap within six 10ths of Alexander having completed just seven laps on the day.“Richard is learning a lot all the time and he made good steps forward but now we’re all looking forward to Snetterton. We’ve got very high hopes for all of our drivers this season and with some more good preparation during the remaining tests, we’re confident of a strong year.”Manor Competition’s next outing will be at Norfolk’s Snetterton Circuit on Wednesday, 7th March, and Thursday, 8th March, for two more days of exclusive Formula Renault UK testing.

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