PROGRESS AT BRANDS HATCH FOR ALEX JONES

British Formula Vee racer, Alex Jones, was content with the progress made in his latest outing at Brands Hatch (Indy) last weekend. The 23 year-old from Radlett finished just outside the top 10 in Race 1 and was running solidly in Race 2 before being forced to retire from an engine failure.

A damp track in qualifying saw many fall victim to the slippery conditions and, despite the 30-car field all squabbling for a piece of tarmac, Jones kept it together and eventually he found a decent enough gap to complete an uninterrupted lap and put himself at the front of the mid-pack on the timesheets.

For the start of Race 1, Jones struggled off the line but enjoyed an action-packed battle with regular front-runner, James Harridge, in the opening stages of the race, with the pair going wheel to wheel up against the pit wall as they came past the start/finish line.

Once separated from Harridge, Jones took full advantage of having a clear track in front of him and made up ground, putting in his fastest lap of the race before the chequered flag came out.

Sunday's Race 2 was disrupted by a red flag after just two laps and, at the restart, Jones got a lightning launch from his grid slot. He was making headway until his weekend was unfortunately drawn to a premature close when his engine gave up after just 4 laps, forcing him to nurse the car back to the pits and retire the #23 entry.

Alex Jones:"I really feel we've made a big step forward and Bears Motorsport have done a great job. It was frustrating to have the engine go like that in Race 2 and of course it's a disappointing way to end the weekend but we've definitely made improvements in terms of performance and we're moving towards the front.

"I really hope to be back out at Croft in 4 weeks but it's budget-pending so we're trying our best to get something in place. After making such positive progress so far this season, and particularly this weekend, it would be a shame to halt the momentum we have right now."