Star graduates from the Formula Renault UK Championship, ELF/BTE Lawline Renault Clio Cup, and even the Renault Spider Cup and Renault 5 championships, are set to make a big impression when they take to the grid in their respective championships this year.
As official Formula 3 testing gets underway both at home and across Europe, four of the biggest names from the past couple of seasons of the Formula Renault UK Championship have been making their mark on the category.
In the opening F3 Euroseries test of 2004 at Valencia, reigning Formula Renault UK Champion Lewis Hamilton headed the timesheets with a best lap of 1m 27.602 seconds in his Manor Motorsport run Dallara-Mercedes.
Jamie Green, the 2002 Formula Renault UK Vice-Champion, was second fastest just over 0.15 seconds behind former sparring partner Hamilton as the pair outpaced a class field of drivers including the likes of Finnish driver Nico Rosberg – son of 1982 Formula One World Champion Keke – and Frenchman Eric Salignon.
British Formula 3 testing last week saw former Formula Renault UK ace James Rossiter set a fastest ever lap of 1m 13.247 seconds at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire to head the timesheets while 2002 Formula Renault UK Champion Danny Watts was fastest during the previous official F3 test at Oulton Park in Cheshire.
In saloon cars, former Renault Spider Cup and British Touring Car Champion Jason Plato will team-up with ex-Renault Clio Cup competitor Robert Huff in the brand new SEAT Sport UK BTCC team. Clio Cup mainstay John George also races in the BTCC this season with Mardi Gras Motorsport.
Meanwhile, all three drivers of the Team Sureterm BTCC squad have competed in Renault championships during recent years. Charlie Butler-Henderson and Paul Wallace, who will drive Vauxhall Astra Coupes, have competed in the Clio Cup while 2001 Formula Renault UK Champion Carl Breeze will race for the team in an Alfa Romeo 156 GTA.
Former Renault 5 GT Turbo front-runner James Kaye will also continue his association with the BTCC by contesting the 2004 championship in a Team Synchro Honda Civic Type-R.
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