Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent) continued his sparkling pre-season testing form this week after becoming the first driver in the history of the Formula Renault UK Championship to lap Brands Hatch Indy Circuit with an average speed of more than 100mph.
Having broken the outright category lap record for the 1.22 mile track during Wednesday’s snow-shower affected sessions, the 20-year old, driving for Daventry-based Fortec Motorsport, shaved a further two 10ths of a second off the time on Thursday morning with a lap of 43.888 seconds (100.58mph).
He eventually went even quicker during the afternoon to head the timesheets at the end of the two days with a best lap of 43.775 seconds (100.84mph). Not only did Conway set a new fastest lap time a full six 10ths of a second inside the previous record set by reigning Formula Renault UK Champion Lewis Hamilton (Tewin, Welwyn), he also became the first driver in the history of the series to lap the Indy Circuit with an average speed of over 100mph.
Eurotek Motorsport’s Brazilian ace, former World Karting Champion Rubens Carrapatoso, was second fastest overall - two 10ths behind Conway - while Manor Motorsport’s Scottish sensation Paul Di Resta (Bathgate, West Lothian) was third. The top three drivers all posted times under the 44 second barrier.
Motaworld Racing’s Oliver Jarvis (Burwell, Cambridgeshire) continued to impress with the fourth fastest time ahead of Team Firstair’s James Murphy (Towcester, Northamptonshire) in fifth and Team JVA’s John Byrne (Magham Down, East Sussex) in sixth.
Westley Barber (Wimbish, Saffron Walden) was seventh overall for Comtec Racing with a lap time of 44.053 seconds while Motaworld’s David Epton (Fleet, Hampshire) enjoyed one of his best ever testing performances in Formula Renault UK by setting the eighth best time a mere three 100ths behind Barber.
Fortec Motorsport’s Charles Hollings (Norwood, West Yorkshire) was ninth fastest with a time just over three 10ths slower than team-mate Conway while Team aka’s James Jakes (Cullingworth, West Yorkshire) rounded out the top 10 with a time of 44.132 seconds.
Official Formula Renault UK Championship pre-season testing continues at the Oulton Park Island Circuit in Cheshire on Tuesday, 16th March, and Wednesday, 17th March.
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