Alex Lynn has ended the hotly-contested Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand with second place in the standings and the highest number of race wins.
The 19-year-old Englishman finished the campaign second only to experienced local ace Nick Cassidy, not only in the points table but also on the circuit as he finished right in his wheeltracks in the final racethe New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild.
Lynn joined a host of international drivers from Europe, South America and Asia, all of them keen to stay race sharp in the European winter and contest the quickfire format of five triple-header events on consecutive weekends. He took three race wins, including the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy (named after the 1967 Formula 1 world champion) at Taupo, and was proud to finish as the top international in the TRS standings.
Its been mega, said Lynn, Ive got to be happy with second in such a competitive championship, even though obviously I wanted to win it. I was gutted not to win the Grand Prix, especially as I was all over Nick, but it is what it isits just a shame I couldnt make the start that I needed.
Nevertheless, that result lifted Lynn above Lucas Auer in the standingsthe Austrian will line up alongside Alex at Prema Powerteam in this seasons FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
It was therefore a successful second trip to New Zealand for Lynn, who had his first experience of the TRS two years ago, on the eve of his dominant Formula Renault UK season. This time he was driving with M2 Competition, the team of renowned engineers Mark Pilcher and Jonathan Moury.
Ive had an absolutely great time with M2, added Alex. All the mechanics, engineers and drivers really got on well with each other, even though we come from all over the world! I really enjoyed my experience in New Zealand this year, but the highlights have to be the Taupo weekend, where I won twice and scored the most points of everybody, scoring another win at Timaru, and getting pole position for the Grand Prix.
Lynn now turns his attentions towards his European F3 campaign with Prema, testing for which is due to kick off in early March before the opening race weekend at the Italian Grand Prix venue of Monza on March 23/24.
I think racing in New Zealand has really set me up well for the F3 season, said Alex, who is a member of the FIA Institute Young DriverExcellence Academy, the MSAs Team UK and the British Racing Drivers Clubs SuperStars programme.
Hopefully it should mean Im up to speed and in good form for when we start testing, especially as so many of my main rivals for 2013like Lucas, Felix Serralles and Pipo Deraniwere racing down there as well. Im really looking forward to getting back to Europe, having my seat fitting at Prema next week and then getting into the racing.
