Motaworld Racing’s Oliver Jarvis (Burwell, Cambridgeshire) surprised the Formula Renault UK Championship runners during the dying seconds of official testing at Oulton Park Island Circuit yesterday by going fastest – and setting a new lap record in the process.

Rounds seven and eight of the season take place at the 2.23 mile Cheshire venue this weekend, 22nd/23rd May, and it was Jarvis who eclipsed the outright lap record by just four 100ths of a second – his quickest time of 1m 19.402 seconds (100.92mph) coming right at the end of the four-hour session.

Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent), who currently leads the championship by a substantial 47 points, was second fastest for Fortec Motorosport with a time 0.049 seconds slower than Jarvis. Conway’s main title rival Westley Barber (Wimbish, Saffron Walden), meanwhile, was just over a 10th of a second further back in third for Comtec Racing.

Manor Motorsport’s Paul Di Resta (Bathgate, West Lothian), who missed out on his first win of the season at Silverstone International Circuit a fortnight ago, continued to show good form with the fourth fastest time while Fortec’s Charles Hollings (Norwood, West Yorkshire) and Team JVA’s John Byrne (Magham Down, East Sussex) were fifth and sixth.

James Jakes (Cullingworth, West Yorkshire) was the quickest of the drivers eligible for the Graduate Cup in seventh place with a time of 1m 19.857 seconds. Canadian Sean McIntosh, meanwhile, who currently heads the Graduate Cup standings by 31 points, was eighth for Team Firstair.

Motaworld’s Joey Foster (Truro, Cornwall) ended the session ninth overall ahead of Team JLR’s Stephen Simpson (Enfield, Middlesex) in 10th position, round five race winner Alex Storckenfeldt in 11th place and Comtec’s Susie Stoddart (Northampton) in 12th position.

The seventh and eighth rounds of the 2004 Formula Renault UK Championship take place at Oulton Park Island Circuit this weekend, 22nd/23rd May.

Click here for the Official Formula Renault web site - designed and built by Racecar