Formula Renault UK Rounds 3 & 4 From Rockingham

Testing went well for Michael, despite a late red flag which interrupted his new tyre run, he ended up finishing P6 to head the CRS Racing squad. He then went on to bank on this good performance to finish P7 in the second session after putting in a great lap just 0.072 of his ideal lap. What made this result even better was the fact that it was achieved without running new tyres which left Michael feeling confident going in to the races.

Qualifying proved to be a tougher job for the young essex lad, after hitting traffic in Q1 he ended up tenth on the grid for race 1. The second qualifying went better and  Michael's improved performance yielded P9 for round four of the Formula Renault UK Championship.

Sunday saw the clouds roll in and rain fell across the Northamptonshire circuit. Michael made an agressive start to the race which saw him move up to eighth place before he out-braked himself trying to make further headway though the pack. This small mistake proved costly for Michael as he dropped back to twelfth place although he battled his way back  finish up eleventh by the end of race one.

Race 2 proved a much brighter prospect with not a hint of rain in sight. Starting from P9 Michael made a good start but got squeezed out at turn one and dropped to tenth place where he was held for a few laps in the middle of an all CRS battle for ninth. On lap six Michael made a truly inspired move around the outside of CRS team mate Robert Foster Jones though turn three to break free and start hunting down the leaders. Michael made good progress and closed the gap to just 0.600 seconds by the end of the race and whilst stretching out a 5.700 second lead over his chasing pack. 

After the race Michael had this to say, "My race pace this weekend has been really strong and on quite a few laps I had the fastest car on the circuit. My fastest lap was only two tenths off the fastest lap in the race so that’s a great improvement. If we can keep this form up in qualifying for Brands Hatch next weekend I think I can defiantly challenge for a slot on the podium so I'm going to work really hard this week and do my best to make next weekend count!!”