British single-seater racer Raoul Owens makes a welcome return to competition on UK soil at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit this coming weekend, 24th/25th May, for the second meeting of the 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup (NEC) season.Arriving in Northamptonshire just a couple of days from now sixth in the championship after two superb against-the-odds performances during rounds one and two at Monza in Italy last month, the Pembury teenager knows he has the pace to mount a podium challenge at his, and the Mark Burdett Motorsport team’s, home event.“It’s obviously great to be back racing in the UK this weekend, Silverstone is a fantastic circuit and I think we’ll have a really good opportunity to fight for the podium”, said Raoul, “Our race pace at Monza was pretty strong and even though the weekend didn’t start very well with problems in the test session, the team and I definitely turned it around.“The aim is to climb the championship and so two strong points finishes have to be the aim. I really want to be back on the podium, though, so we’ll be doing our best to make that happen. Hopefully we got any problems out of the way at Monza and now we can show our true level of performance.”Going into the Monza weekend with justifiable confidence after a very strong pre-season, the first race meeting of the year didn’t get off to the start Raoul wanted or deserved when a power related issue – which was eventually pinpointed to a faulty throttle sensor – ruined testing and qualifying.Remaining calm and composed, with great professionalism, Raoul produced two hugely impressive drives in each of the Monza encounters. Scything his way through the order from 20th position on each occasion, the 19-year-old starred with eighth and ninth place finishes on his first appearance at the world-renowned Italian track.“Monza was a tough way to start the season, the throttle sensor problem meant we had no track time in testing and so the set-up just wasn’t right for qualifying”, reflected Raoul, “The car was great for the races though, the team did a fantastic job, and we were able to get some good points on the board. From the way the weekend started, I was pretty happy with the way it turned out.”Following two practice sessions at Silverstone on the morning of Friday, 23rd May, qualifying will take place at 15.10. Round three of the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC season will begin at 14.40 on Saturday, 24th May, with round four following on Sunday, 25th May, at 10.20. Live coverage of the weekend’s racing will be streamed online at www.formularenault.tv