Alex Lynn became the 2011 Certina Formula Renault UK Champion in perfect style at Silverstone, with a dominant start-to-finish victory from pole position, a new lap record and, for good measure, a new record of Formula Renault UK wins in a season.
Lynn, 18, needed just a point to secure the title, but was in no mood for playing a conservative game, and scorched to pole position by the huge margin of 0.315 seconds (the same gap covered the next eight drivers on the grid).
Later in the day he made it a double pole position to complete a qualifying display of superiority. “It was very cold in the first session, and quite a few of the other drivers suffer from cold graining of their tyres,” he explained. “You’ve got to work the tyres quite hard to bring them in, and once I’d done that I maximised what I had.
“In the second session I had to work quite hard for it – the times were really close.”
Again it was cold in the first race, but Alex was so dominant that he could even afford to weave on the opening lap to warm his tyres without fear of leaving the door open to anyone behind.
From then on he pulled away, and was seven seconds in front going into the final lap before backing off as he crossed the line for his 12th victory of the season, breaking the record set by James Matthews in 1994. It confirmed him as the 23rd Formula Renault UK champion, joining a roll of honour that includes world champions Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton.
“The car was mega,” said Lynn. “We were really fast and I was very happy with the performance. It’s a great feeling to win the championship, and I’m so happy for all the guys at Fortec who have done such a fantastic job all year. I don’t know what it is about Silverstone, but I seem to have a great record here – it’s my third win here of the season.”
Alex again took off in the lead in the second race, but an opportunistlunge from his Fortec team-mate Oliver Rowland at the second corner put himdown to second. Lynn tried to fight back at the next corner, but looped into aspin.
He climbed back up to eighth position, but a drive-through penalty for running wide at Copse Corner relegated him to ninth at the flag.
“It’s a shame, but in all fairness Ollie needed to pull off a good move to get enough points for second in the championship, which he managed,” said Lynn. “We made slight contact and it knocked my tracking out a bit. I tried to get him back because I knew my best chance of passing was on the first lap, but it didn’t work out.
“Because of the damage to the tracking I was struggling in right-handers. I would turn in and get massive oversteer and have to run out wide. It’s a shame to get the penalty, but in these cars it’s very hard to follow closely and not run wide.
“I’m very happy for my team manager and engineer Russell Dixon, because Ollie getting that win means his drivers earned first and second in the championship. He really deserves that.”
Despite the final race, this has been a fantastic season for Alex. As well as his on-track successes, he was selected for two highly-prestigious young-driver talent initiatives: the MSA Team UK scheme and the British Racing Drivers Club’s SuperStars programme. He was also nominated as one of the MSA’s two candidates to go forward for consideration as a member of the FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy, and is one of the six finalists in the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, for which the winner gets prizes including a test in a McLaren Formula 1 car.
“It’s been an amazing year,” he said. “I want to thank all my sponsors,and say a special thanks to Russell Dixon and my mechanic Dan Mitchell. They’ve done a great job. And I can’t forget my family for taking so much time to support my racing.
Fortec team principal Richard Dutton added: “Alex has had a fantastic year. He is the perfect professional, gives 100 per cent all the time and has been on fire every weekend this season. We’re so pleased with his season.”
As part of the ultra-popular British Touring Car Championship package, the Formula Renault UK Championship enjoyed live coverage of its second race at Silverstone on ITV4 and ITV4 HD, and was streamed live.
News on Alex’s programme for 2012 is expected soon.
