Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin newcomer Sebastian Hohenthal shattered reigning champion Mike Conway’s year-old outright lap record at Snetterton Circuit today as the 2005 competitors enjoyed their first meaningful running of the official pre-season.

After struggling against the wintry conditions during Wednesday’s test, drivers arrived at the Norfolk venue this morning only to find the 1.95 mile circuit covered in snow, although the session finally got underway at around 11.15.

Team AKA’s James Jakes (Leeds) continued his form from the previous day’s test during the morning by lapping almost half a second quicker than his nearest rival but on a completely dry track in the afternoon it was category newcomer Hohenthal who led the way for Fortec Motorsport – and in very impressive fashion.

The Swedish driver’s fastest lap of 1m 04.403 seconds (109.11mph) was a full seven 10ths of a second quicker than Mike Conway managed during the corresponding pre-season test last season. His time was over a 10th of a second faster than chief rival Jakes, while Hohenthal’s Dutch team-mate Yelmer Buurman was third with a time of 1m 04.530 seconds.

Current Formula Renault UK Winter Champion Stuart Hall (Halstead, Essex) was fourth fastest, also for Fortec, while Team JLR’s Stephen Simpson (Enfield, Middlesex) was fifth, edging out new team-mate Tom Kimber-Smith (Wokingham, Berkshire) into sixth position – the pair exactly four 100ths of a second apart.

Oliver Jarvis (Burwell, Cambridgeshire) was again the best of the Manor Motorsport drivers in seventh place with a time of 1m 04.773 seconds. His Chinese team-mate Cheng Congfu was eight fastest, Hillspeed’s Josh Weber (Tiverton, Devon) was ninth and Team AKA’s Swedish driver Alex Storckenfeldt rounded out the top 10.

While under a second covered the top 15 drivers, yet again confirming the category’s competitiveness, Formula Renault UK’s international appeal has also been underlined with a total of nine different nationalities represented at Snetterton.

Official Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin testing continues at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit next week, Wednesday, 9th March and Thursday, 10th March. Note to editors – Copyright free images available on request for editorial use

Full official testing times available at msttiming.com 

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