While those of us in the UK may be shuddering at the thought of a maximum temperature of a few degrees, turning up the heating, wrapping up warm and hoping all those snow shovels at garages and supermarkets are just attempts to scare us into parting with more cash, one of our drivers is revelling in the icy conditions of his homeland.

 
Indeed, a daytime high of four or five degrees might even seem mild for Formula Renault Eurocup driver Mikko Pakari and his family and while we may be guilty of neglecting our gardens over the winter months, the Pakaris make full use of their lake and Finland’s rather chilly climate as they take part in a traditional Finnish sport, perfect for the adrenaline junkie – ice racing.

 
The Finns are renowned for their love of racing and rallying on ice and ice racing forms an important part of Pakari’s winter training programme. For Mikko, it is the perfect way to stay fit and have fun, while spending time with his family (his father was also a keen racer) ahead of a jam-packed season in Europe. Ice racing is not only extremely physically demanding, but it adds another element of unpredictability, which then necessitates finely tuned reactions and excellent driver/rider awareness; all of these elements are crucial for a racing driver as they are required to make split second decisions and react instantly to events out on track, while the G-forces they encounter and the speeds that they reach demand drivers to be at the peak of their physical fitness. It’s also important for drivers to pursue a fitness programme that they can gain some enjoyment from and this seems like a perfect way to do that!

As temperatures are set to stay below freezing for a few months yet, there’s plenty of time for Mikko to enjoy himself out on the ice, while also preparing for the step up to racing cars in 2012.

Looks like great fun, doesn’t it?!

p.s our January edition of the Fortec newsletter is out tomorrow – you can subscribe to it here

We’ve been very busy over the last few weeks and we’re raring to go for the 2012 season, particularly with the addition of some new drivers to our line-up and the unveiling of this year’s Dallara F3 car at the AUTOSPORT show last week. Let’s bring you up to speed with what’s been going on since our last blog just before Christmas.

Driver announcements

Over the last three weeks we have confirmed four more drivers who will race for the team in 2012 in what is destined to be an extremely exciting year for the team. Towards the end of December  we announced that Ed Jones would be joining the Formula Renault Eurocup squad for 2012; the youngster, who impressed in the inaugural year of the InterSteps Championship with Fortec in 2011, joins McLaren AUTOSPORT Award winner Oliver Rowland and young Finn Mikko Pakari at the Eurocup team.

Elsewhere, Puerto Rican star Felix Serralles is to move up to the British Formula Three International Series with the team. After a consistent year in the Formula Renault Eurocup Championship and taking part in a number of UK rounds as a guest entrant, Felix proved he had what it takes to progress up to the British F3 Series and he was remarkably quick in testing towards the end of 2011. Felix is currently competing in the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand ahead of the 2012 British F3 season and we wish him the very best of luck! So far, Felix has recorded a sixth-place finish, a seventh-place finish, and a fourth place finish.

We also welcome two newbies to the team for the upcoming season. Karting sensation Cameron Twynham breaks into car racing this season with our InterSteps team and he’ll be hoping to build on Jake Dennis, Alex Walker and Ed Jones’s successes in 2011. Another new addition to the Fortec squad is Martin Cao who joins the Formula Renault BARC team after having competed in both single-seater and touring car events prior to 2012.

The AUTOSPORT show

There’s no better way to see in the 2012 season than the annual AUTOSPORT show. The event, held at Birmingham’s NEC, always attracts huge crowds and this year was no different with some particularly special exhibitions, featuring two of our very own cars.

One of the most talked about cars of the entire show was the all-new Dallara F312 and we were extremely proud to show ours off. Fortec’s Mercedes-powered car took pride of place at the Historic Sports Car Club stand, which showcased British Formula Three through the ages, and mapped the evolution of the F3 car perfectly. If you haven’t already seen it, here’s a picture of our 2012 car in all its glory – looks pretty good, doesn’t it?!

Our new Formula Three Car on show at the HSCC stand

Also on show was Jake Dennis’s Championship winning Formula BMW InterSteps car; Jake’s car, in its distinctive Racing Steps Foundation livery, formed part of the British Automobile Racing Club’s stand.

Jake Dennis's 2011 InterSteps car on show at the BARC stand

Fortec drivers were also in action out on track over the four days. Alex Lynn formed part of the MSA Team UK team in the Celebrity Karting Race on Thursday afternoon; the 18-year-old drove the final leg of the race in style to take a dominant victory for the team. Lynn was also in action in the Live Arena over the weekend, while Oliver Rowland – as part of his McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award prize – showcased the Formula Two car to the delight of the crowd.

We hope that everyone who managed to make it to the show enjoyed themselves and got to see a glimpse of our cars up close and for those of you who weren’t able to make it, put it on your to do list for 2013

MSA Driver Development Scheme

One more piece of good news before we leave you; Oliver Rowland and Alex Lynn have both been named as part of the MSA Driver Development Scheme. The Fortec pair joins five other drivers, who will be guided by National Race Coach David Brabham.

So that’s it from us for this week – stay tuned for more news by following us on twitter and facebook …we hope to have more for you soon!

Valencia…

We and the drivers have had our fair share of early Christmas presents, but they keep on coming with some great results from our last test in Valencia. It hardly felt like Christmas out there though, with temperatures up in the late teens, while back home in Daventry it’s felt positively arctic at times!

A whole host of Fortec cars headed out to Valencia this week for some valuable testing time. Out on track were the British F3 cars and they were joined by the Formula Renault 2.0s and a couple of BARC cars. We’re not going to lie, we had a pretty phenomenal test out in Spain – a great end to an incredible 2011.

Why so great? Well let’s start with the F3s; Alex Lynn finished as the fastest man of all on the third and final day of testing out in Valencia. The youngster finished just under one-and-a-half tenths clear of Carlos Sainz Junior, with Felix Serralles in fourth place and the pair has been impressively consistent all week, mixing it up with the more experienced F3 drivers and we’re very proud of them for doing such a great job and keeping the focus in the run-up to Christmas!

The Renault 2.0s had a similarly impressive week, and they have one more day’s testing today. So far, Oliver Rowland has been the best of the bunch, finishing top of the timesheets in both sessions, leading a Fortec one-two from Mikko Pakari in the first session, and heading an impressive 1-2-3-4-5…7(!) on Tuesday.

Now that's what we like to see!

 Driver news…

If you missed it, this week saw the announcement of another driver for 2012. We’re delighted to welcome Mikko Pakari to the team for next year. The young Finn will make the step up from karting to race in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup team in 2012. He’s been remarkably quick in testing and we’re really excited to see what he can do next year.

Mikko Pakari joins the Fortec Eurocup squad for 2012

Back home in Daventry…

While you could be forgiven for wondering if the drivers out there in Valencia know it’s Christmas time at all (apologies, couldn’t resist), the Christmas cards and chocolates have been pouring in (sorry boys, we’ve eaten them all now…even the Turkish Delights have been gobbled up) and although the guys haven’t had any cars to prep, they certainly haven’t been slacking. Oh no, Christmas time back at base means it’s time for a re-paint – it’s no fun, but racing can’t be fun ALL the time – to some fabulous Christmas songs and some quite remarkable renditions from the lads….Last Christmas was particularly special and had we had a video recorder to hand, we could well have released it and really given ‘Little Mix’ and others in contention for Christmas number one a serious run for their money.

That’s about it from us for this week…This time next week we’ll be recovering from the Christmas Party, when we’ll finally all be together again after a manic month!

Before we go, one last thing – do you have an iPhone? You’ll never miss another news story from us again with the FREE Fortec app and our really cool Pocket Fortec app is just 69p. With Pocket Fortec, you can hear what it really sounds like to be flat out, imagine you’re in a Fortec pitstop in your living room and much, much more!

Pocket Fortec

The AUTOSPORT Awards

When it was announced that both Alex Lynn and Oliver Rowland had been nominated for the highly esteemed McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award – two of only six drivers to be up for the award – we knew that both guys were strong contenders. Alex and Oliver enjoyed phenomenal year in 2011, with some remarkable drives and it’s fantastic for them both to be recognised for their achievements.

The McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC award is a particularly special one, with previous winners such as David Coulthard, Jenson Button and Dario Franchitti going on to become household names. The prize is pretty awesome too – £100,000 and an F1 test with McLaren Mercedes – it’s no wonder that they left this one until last on awards night as the six nominees waited anxiously to hear who the lucky winner would be.

It was clearly no easy decision, with six highly talented guys from various racing formulae up for the prize and the six were really put through their paces as both their driving and fitness was assessed in an extremely demanding manner. In the end though, only one man could win and that man was Oliver Rowland. The FRUK Runner-up, Graduate Cup Champion and Finals Series Champion impressed the judges, showing excellent focus, determination and raw talent as he was put through his paces.

It hasn’t been an easy year for the 19-year-old, who lost his father in 2010 and his mentor Martin Hines earlier this year. In his first year of car racing, Rowland has proven himself to be a quick learner, and he was the man in form as the season drew to a close; Ollie took his first win at Rockingham and followed that up with double-victory at Brands Hatch and a win at the season finale at Silverstone to take the runner-up spot in the Championship. He showed an admirable and quite remarkable strength of character this year, which will certainly aid him as his career progresses. The whole team is delighted for Oliver, who was evidently shocked and overwhelmed by his award of which he should be extremely proud.

Rowland poses next to the McLaren. Photo credit: Planetf1

If you missed the livestream of the awards, or you want to see the moment Oliver picked up his award then click here. (We aren’t responsible for any content/comments/links on external sites)

Our record-breaking Formula Renault 2.0 UK Champion Alex Lynn was also an award-winner at the prestigious event. The 18-year-old won the British Club Driver of the Year award for his fantastic season in Formula Renault 2.0 UK, where he blew the competition away with a simply staggering performance. To know that such an award was voted for by the public is even more rewarding as it shows the public have an engaged interest in Lynn’s achievements, recognising quite how special his year has been.

The BRDC Awards

After a night of celebrating with some of the biggest names in motorsport came the BRDC Awards. It was another star-studded affair and two Fortec men picked up awards at the bash. Oliver Rowland took home the Chris Bestow Trophy, awarded to the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC award while William Buller was awarded the Spencer-Charrington Trophy for finishing as the top British Driver in the British Formula Three International Series – no big surprises there!

Eurocup testing

We promised to let you know how our Eurocup test went at Motorland, so, briefly – we had a very successful test, unfortunately the weather wasn’t so great and the sessions were slightly interrupted by fog. Last week we tested Oliver Rowland and Finish star Mikko Pakari and they were great, finishing 1-2 on both Thursday and Friday with Pakari just two thousandths off the pace during Friday’s session. All very encouraging signs.

Next week we’ll have a few teams heading out to Valencia for a three-day test, so back at base it’s all very quiet, eerily so..

It's oh so quiet...

Just a quick reminder to sign up to our e-newsletter – first issue will be out next week! And keep track of us on twitter and facebook, and remember, if you want us to cover anything in particular – let us know!

It’s been a really important and productive week for us so let’s bring you up to date on all of the goings on at home and abroad first of all. Once again it’d be fair to say that Alex Lynn has been one of the busiest of the Fortec bunch over the past week or so. He and Oliver Rowland both picked up their awards at the TOCA Night of Champions on Saturday but Alex could hardly enjoy a lazy Sunday after the big night – oh no, he was on a plane heading out to Barcelona on Sunday morning for a very exciting test…

Alex's Championship victory secured him a place at the FR3.5 test. Photo credit: Paul Davies

Alex was one of 28 drivers to be invited to take part in a Formula Renault 3.5 ‘Champions Test’ at Motorland, Aragon on Monday morning. The Formula Renault 2.0 UK Champion was joined by the top three finishers in the British F3 Championship, the top four finishers in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Championship and many more. The Champion performed extremely well alongside Carlos Huertas and both drivers thoroughly enjoyed their experiences. The pair also tested in the afternoon session before Lynn jetted back home to the UK, arriving at Oulton Park on Monday evening ahead of a two-day test at the Cheshire circuit.

Huertas tested with the team again on Tuesday at Motorland and was joined by Robin Frijns. Huertas slotted inside the top ten in ninth, with Frijns narrowly missing out on a top-ten finish in eleventh place. Wednesday was the final day of the collective test and the last outing for the current FR 3.5 car. In the hot seat for the final day were Frijns and AutoGP driver Giovanni Venturini and the pair were very evenly matched throughout the final day’s testing.

Back in the UK, abysmal weather at Oulton on Tuesday for the F3 and FRUK tests saw power cuts stop play for a while as the rain came down by the bucket load. Never missing a chance to have some fun, the boys took it upon themselves to make a boat to pass the time, and you never know, it could have saved them from potential disaster had the rain kept on coming… Luckily though, yesterday was a far brighter day at Oulton and the guys got some valuable dry running in, no boats necessary!

So as one test ends another begins and over the next couple of days it’s our Eurocup team which is taking to the track in Spain and we’ll bring you up to date on that next week!

Before we go we have some more important news. In case you missed it, Carlos Huertas will be racing in our Formula Renault 3.5 team next year…Carlos did a great job in F3 this season and he’s performed very well in testing, we think he’s a great one to watch for next season so we’re thrilled to welcome him to the Fortec family.

We're looking forward to having Carlos with us for next season. Photo credit: Formula3.co

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We arrived back from Macau with mixed feelings; yes we did a great job and the whole team should feel extremely proud of its efforts but we missed out on the chance to really showcase our full potential at this fantastic street circuit. Racing for Fortec were our top finishers in the British F3 series William Buller and Lucas Foresti and both were desperately unlucky to run into traffic and yellow flags on their all-important hot laps in Friday’s qualifying session. Consequently the duo started well down the order for the qualifying race but neither driver was to be discouraged and they fought hard in the qualification race to secure a far stronger starting position for the Sunday’s main race. The guys did a great job with some expert driving, keeping out of trouble as they eventually wound up in sixth and seventh place in an incident-packed race on Sunday.

Photo credit: Paul Davies

To gain so many places and show such strong pace inevitably makes you wonder what might have been had the drivers got some clear track on Friday, but the result is all the more encouraging given where they did qualify. One thing is for certain, the Macau GP was, as ever, a fantastic experience which provides an atmosphere that doesn’t compare with anywhere else on the F3 calendar and it’s definitely worth the journey and organisation!

The travelling doesn’t stop there – our Eurocup team headed out to Jerez on Sunday ahead of a two-day test on Monday and Tuesday. Back in England, our Formula Renault UK team drove down to Brands Hatch on Tuesday for a one-day test and are today at Donington Park for another test session, while the British F3 squad travelled down to Snetterton, joined by a BARC and an InterSteps car at the Norfolk track.

Alex Lynn may well win the award for the busiest Fortec man at the moment. The 18-year-old who will race in F3 with us next year was last week chosen for the FIA Young Driver Excellence Academy after a rigorous assessment in Vienna, he today takes part in the F3 test at Snetterton before heading off to Spain for a test in the World Series car, but there’s one thing he has to do first… You see, sandwiched in between Alex’s busy test programme is the TOCA Night of Champions where both Lynn and Oliver Rowland are to be honoured for their achievements this year. It’s set to be a fantastic night, and well, it’s not a bad way to split up a testing programme!

Joining Alex in a Fortec car will be Carlos Huertas. Both form part of a lineup of drivers who have been invited to test a Formula Renault 3.5 car at Motorland, Aragon on Monday morning. The lineup includes the top-three British F3 finishers, the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Champion Robin Frijns and many more. While Lynn will only test on Monday, Huertas is set to test for all three days and joining Fortec on Tuesday and Wednesday will be Robin Frijns so it’s all go for us!

Oh and one more thing…we’ve got a fancy iphone app, two in fact…If you’re having racing withdrawal symptoms and you miss the noise of being at a race track, or you’ve never been and want to know what it sounds like download the Pocket Fortec app. For those of you that just want to be kept up to date with all the latest Fortec news, download our free Fortec Motorsports app. Links to both apps can be found to the right of this post.

Pocket Fortec

Stay tuned for more news….we might fit one more blog in before December when we’ll really have to face up to the fact that Christmas is almost upon us…we even had our first Christmas card this week!

First of all let’s bring you up to speed on the Finals Series action from last weekend. The Finals Series is extremely demanding; with nine cars running and two races per day, the whole team worked flat out to ensure that all cars were prepped and ready to go. Arriving back at base on Sunday after Snetterton, the Renault mechanics had less than 48 hours before they were heading up the road to Rockingham for two days of testing ahead of Friday’s free practice and the final two rounds of the series on Saturday. 

We arrived at Rockingham with healthy leads in both the 2.0 and the BARC classes. Much of the talk at Snetterton surrounded Josh Hill, who was blisteringly quick at the Norfolk track, taking four poles from four but it was Oliver Rowland who led after the first weekend having taken victory in three of the four races. It’s been a fantastic few months for Ollie and it’s great to see him develop as a racer, while it was lovely to see Josh Hill show his true talents and take his maiden FRUK victory. As Fortec’s sole representative in the BARC class, Archie Hamilton did a stellar job at Snett, but things didn’t quite go to plan for the 20-year-old at Rockingham.

We all said that consistency would be the key to Finals Series victory and it proved heartbreakingly true for Archie who missed out on the title by just three points to Victor Jimenez. Archie was taken out in the final race and as the calculations were made, Victor’s consistent high finishes secured him the title, despite not taking victory in any of the six races. It’s a tough result, but that’s racing and the team takes heart from its strong performances throughout the series.

In the 2.0 Class, the team has enjoyed a fantastic year and what better way to top it off than Rowland winning the title with a race to go and Josh Hill leading home a Fortec 1-2-3 in the final race of the Series. When a team works so tirelessly, it’s great to see them rewarded.

Fortec secured a 1-2-3 in the final race of the series Photo credit: Paul Davies

The last racing of the year takes place this weekend in Macau and it’s set to be a thriller! It’s always a great event, with 30 cars taking to the street circuit and we’re in with a good shot this year with Will Buller and Lucas Foresti both having enjoyed strong British F3 seasons. They’ve both raced in Macau before and Will won there in Formula BMW so they’re both familiar with the track. The one big issue for Macau is the time difference – the British F3 guys are used to racing in the UK and Europe where the time zones don’t vary much, but Macau is a whole eight hours ahead of us which takes a bit of getting used to. That’s why the team made it out there nice and early to acclimatise, soak up the atmosphere and get prepped for what’s sure to be an action-packed weekend.

We’re already well into preparations for next year – the exciting and the not so exciting…the exciting is we have lots of testing planned – next up is the Eurocup guys who are heading out to Jerez for a test on Sunday. Then there’s you guys – our lovely fans, it’s always great to hear from you and we’ve had lots of e-mails and letters from you recently! Rest assured you’ll be hearing from us soon, complete with autograph cards for you all! The not so exciting is all the logistics – everything needs to be organised well in advance to ensure that it all runs smoothly and when you’re as big a team as we are, it pays to be the early bird!

There’s no signs of anything calming down in the near future and it may well be our Christmas Party before we get everyone in the same country for more than a couple of hours!

So the big news was that Josh Hill has joined us for the Finals Series and he has certainly impressed, starting on pole for all four races at Snetterton, over half a second quicker than the rest of the field on a very wet Saturday. Although Hill was disappointed not to convert more than one pole to a victory in a mixed weekend for the 20-year-old, we were delighted for Josh to score his maiden Formula Renault UK victory with us in the third race of the weekend – a win that was long overdue given Josh’s outstanding talent. Joining Josh we’ve also got three other Fortec newbies with varying racing experience – young Shahaan Engineer has tested with the team this season but last weekend was his first actual race and he did a stellar job for the team. Dan de Zille is the oldest of our drivers with  a wealth of Formula Ford experience, while Thomas Jaeger is Hill’s closest challenger from the newbie camp with some fantastic drives over the weekend in less-than-pleasant weather conditions.

Hill celebrates his first FRUK victory!

While some fell victim to the dreary November weather, Oliver Rowland proved exactly why he’s the favourite to take the title at Rockingham in a few days’ time. The Graduate Cup Champion made some phenomenal starts at Snetterton, to take three wins from four at the Norfolk circuit which he admits is one of his weaker tracks and, where Hill was consistently quicker than him all weekend. Rowland has now won seven of the past ten races that he’s entered and the 19-year-old has a 38-point lead heading into the final two rounds at Rockingham. Ollie is continuing to demonstrate why he’s been marked out as one of Britain’s top young drivers as he goes from strength to strength, and he’s collected quite a few trophies this weekend…

Too many trophies, not enough hands!

Jones and Dennis put in solid performances as they move up to Formula Renault UK from InterSteps, and they’re hoping to get some more valuable racing experience and mix it up with the FRUK regulars this weekend while Eurocup regular Felix Serralles took two third-placed finishes on Saturday in a strong showing for the Puerto Rican.

Archie Hamilton has done the Fortec team proud in the BARC class as its sole representative, taking three wins from four and leading into the final two rounds at Rockingham. Martin Cao joins the BARC team for a test tomorrow with the possibility of racing at the weekend, although nothing has yet been confirmed.

"Look what we've won!"

So once the Finals are over and we’ve hopefully taken both class titles that’s it for us and we can start decorating for Christmas. Just kidding…We’ve got one of the most exciting events of the season still to come – the Macau Grand Prix. Macau is a hugely demanding street circuit, which is not for the faint-hearted and it’s certainly not recommended for F3 rookies!  It’s an extremely complex logistical operation to get everything over there – the cars left the factory early last week, while a breakdown of all parts is required to get everything flown over with minimal security questions and it has taken months of thorough planning. It’s sure to be worth it though as Macau is a firm favourite with drivers, teams and fans alike and it offers an atmosphere that’s totally different from all other races on our calendar.

If you can get down to Rockingham on Saturday, you’ll be in for a real treat as it’s set to be an action-packed day out! We’ll be sure to bring you more news and goings on here in our next blog as the Macau events draws nearer.

Our squeaky clean Renault squad - come and cheer us on if you can!

We all know the saying ‘practice makes perfect’…and that’s what we’ve been doing – practicing and practicing and practicing! Last week, almost every Fortec team was out testing – Alex Lynn collected his Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship trophy in Oxford on Saturday night and on Monday morning he was at Rockingham Motor Speedway for another British F3 test, following on from a really successful test at the ever-popular Monza circuit. Scott Pye – who is currently trying to secure financial backing for the 2012 F3 season with us – joined the Fortec team on the Monday and thoroughly enjoyed his day while Lynn spent two days out on track, gleaning as much information from the car as possible as he looks to prepare himself as well as possible for the step up to F3 next year.

Lynn had one day’s rest and was then straight back in the cockpit for another two-day test at Silverstone. This time, the FRUK Champion was joined by a number of Formula Renault cars as the team looked to gain more experience in preparation for the Formula Renault UK Finals Series which begin at Snetterton this coming weekend. Although the dreary conditions were less than pleasant for the teams and drivers, they were in fact ideal preparation for the Finals Series as we’ve accepted that our Indian Summer is well and truly over…the heatwave of  Brands is now a distant memory…maybe the name change from Winter Series to Finals Series was partly in the hope of having less wintry weather, we’ll see if it has any effect! The Formula Renault BARC guys, who will be taking part in the BARC Finals Series across the same two weekends, were also in action on Friday as the team headed down to Brands Hatch for a one-day test at the Kent circuit.

Rain in Spain came as something of a surprise to the World Series by Renault Formula Renault 3.5 teams who were testing in Aragon on Thursday and Friday last week, compromising the testing sessions somewhat but today is looking a lot brighter in Motorland as F3 star Lucas Foresti tries out a Fortec WSbR 3.5 car at the Motorland circuit.

Foresti at Silverstone F3 finale. Photo credit: Paul Davies

It was a fantastic weekend for Fortec at Silverstone for the Formula Renault 2.0 UK and Formula Renault BARC season finales. Alex Lynn’s Championship victory at the Northamptonshire circuit was the culmination of hard work and effort from both Alex and his team throughout the season, and scoring a record number of wins this season was the icing on the cake for the 18-year-old star.

Meanwhile, Oliver Rowland, who has come into his own in recent months, has been a pleasure to watch over the past weekends. Recording his maiden victory at Rockingham, Oliver won four of the last six races of the season. With that decisive victory under his belt, Rowland came alive, winning two from two at Brands Hatch, bringing the 19-year-old into contention for second place in the Drivers’ Championship in only his first year in car racing. Having seen his teammate clinch the title in race one at Silverstone, it remained mathematically possible to further ruin Tio Ellinas’s day by lifting second place from him in the final race of the season. With the bit between his teeth, Rowland knew exactly what was required of him; only a win and fastest lap was good enough and in a nail-biting final lap, Rowland did just that – crossing the line he saw the time flash up and he knew it was enough. It really was a remarkable achievement for Oliver.

Rowland and Gilbert enjoy the Champagne as Rowland secures 2nd place in the standings. Photo credit Paul Davies.

A great weekend for the Formula Renault BARC team, too; none of the Fortec racers collapsed under the pressure of the TOCA weekend as the drivers raced in front of crowds far larger than at any other BARC weekend. While Josh Webster was understandably disappointed to miss out on the Championship, he’s a worthy Vice-Champion and his talent and composure has certainly impressed. Archie Hamilton recorded his best finish of the season in Saturday’s race; the 20-year-old has had a string of third places but the Fortec man went one better in race one to move up to the second step on the podium and the whole team performed impressively throughout the weekend.

Webster celebrates victory in race one as Hamilton records his best finish of the season. Photo credit Paul Davies.

Think they can sit back and relax now? Not a chance – a driver’s mind is rarely off racing. Indeed, Alex Lynn didn’t even have time to celebrate Championship victory on Sunday as he jetted off to Monza immediately after race two. With just a few hours’ sleep the Champion was out on track in a F3 car, testing at the phenomenal Monza circuit for the first time in his career. He certainly impressed – finishing just three tenths behind this year’s double-pole man Will Buller and Lynn has shown all the signs that he’ll make the step up to F3 with relative ease.

Lynn celebrates Championship glory hours before jetting off to Monza. Photo credit Paul Davies.

Meanwhile, Josh Webster hasn’t had time to relax either – Thursday saw the 17-year-old take to the track with Harry Tincknell and others for the Henry Surtees Trophy Race. Lucas Foresti has also been back on-track; the Brazilian spent two days testing a World Series by Renault car last week in Barcelona. More F3 testing takes place today and,  in November, Alex Lynn and Oliver Rowland – two of only six drivers to be nominated for the McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC award – will undergo a demanding assessment in a range of areas as the award hopefuls are put through their paces to decide who the eventual winner will be.

It’s not just a weekend job for our boys – in between racing, testing, fitness and trips to the factory it’s actually a hard, busy and tiring life when you’re “living the dream”!