Nineteen year old Ollie Hancock, younger brother of sportscar and Carrera Cup racer, Sam, fought from the back of the field to finish 4th last weekend in the Oulton Park round of the BARC Formula Renault championship. Having qualified in second place, just 0.007s off pole, the youngster was taken out of the lead on the first lap of the race and impressed onlookers with his charge back through the field.

Having secured his front row start position in a damp and greasy qualifying session, Hancock was fast off the line took the lead into the first corner on a dry track.

His hard work was soon undone however, when an over-ambitious move into the Island hairpin by pole sitter and 2nd place man Aaron Steele saw him thump into the back of Hancock’s car, pushing him into a spin and onto the grass.

Once back under way in 20th place, Hancock quickly fought his way back through the traffic to secure a vital clutch of championship points.

“The car was good,” said Hancock after the race, “and naturally I was pretty hacked off with the incident on the first lap so, yes, I was pushing hard all the way to the flag. I am totally convinced we had the car to win today so I’d like to say a special thanks to the team and my engineer for their hard work - it’s a shame it didn’t work out this time but I’m sure that if we keep improving at the current rate, our time will definitely come.”

Following on from his debut podium finish at Croft a month ago, Hancock now lies 3rd in the standings after just four rounds, with eight races remaining.