Alex Lynn scored a win on his debut in the Toyota Racing Series in wet conditions at New Zealand’s Teretonga circuit.
Lynn won the third of the weekend’s trio of races, putting him in a comfortable third place in the standings. The 17-year-old, who comes into the New Year on the back of winning the Formula Renault UK Winter Cup, is also the highest-placed TRS rookie, and was the only series newcomer to win a race.
The Essex driver’s Kiwi adventure with Giles Motorsport started in style when he topped the times in a special test for international drivers, with a time under the lap record. He stayed on the pace as the ‘regular’ drivers joined in, but was hampered in qualifying when his exhaust broke, meaning he placed a disappointed sixth on the grid for race one and seventh for race two.
“At that point I just said to myself that it was going to be one of those points-salvaging weekends,” said Alex. “It can be hard to overtake in single-seaters, so I knew it was going to be tough to make up places.
“In the first race I got lucky with a couple of drivers picking up penalties. That gave me fourth place and that was a good result. In the second I knew I had to get up to fifth or sixth place, because they reverse the top six to produce the grid for race three. I sat in seventh for about three-quarters of the race and then got an opportunity to make a move on the guy in front – thankfully it paid off!”
That meant that Lynn would start the third race from pole position, which was all well and good… until it started to rain. “Unfortunately it started to rain about half an hour before the start,” he said. “I’m usually pretty good in the wet, but I’d never driven this car or this circuit in the rain before. So it was a little bit tense before the start, but I had a really good race. I did a better job than anyone else to bring my tyres in on the warm-up lap and then it was easy.”
That was despite Alex having his lead erased by a safety car, but he remained composed and ended the weekend third in the points, behind reigning champion Mitch Evans and Scott Pye, who was third in the 2009 series.
“It’s really good,” said Lynn. “I went there with an approach of not expecting too much and I think that helped relax the pressure. I’m loving New Zealand – it’s a great place, really picturesque, and it’s even nicer when you know you’re still quite close to the championship lead! I’ve just got to carry on getting good points and finishes.”
Alex’s race engineer Mick Kouros, who engineered Lynn in Formula Renault UK in 2010, added: “The reality is that if things had gone well in qualifying, Alex could have qualified on the front row, or at least the second. He was on the pace from the very first hour of turning a wheel on the circuit. He set up his win when he made that move in race two: he knew he had to get in front of the guy and pulled off a good move. He definitely earned it, and then in the wet race he just drove away and paced himself, and got the gap again on the restart. He drove really well.”
The TRS field are in action again very soon: they begin testing this Thursday for the second round at Timaru this weekend. After the four International rounds, Alex and the other overseas drivers will return to prepare for their main-season 2011 campaigns. For Lynn, that will be a second season with Fortec Motorsport in Formula Renault UK, this time as a member of the Team UK initiative run by the Motor Sports Association, British motorsport’s governing body.
This is an honour for Alex, as just 10 drivers (seven from racing, three from rallying) have been selected for what is a highly-prestigious young-driver development programme, operated by the Brabham Performance Clinic of international racing star David Brabham.
Team UK is the pinnacle of the MSA Academy, and provides a wide-ranging area of education and development for the leading young British prospects, including driver coaching, fitness and dietary programmes, and sports psychology.
