Champion Conway's Dominance Continues At Snetterton

Formula Renault Championship Rounds 17/18 Snetterton, Norfolk

He might have wrapped up the Formula Renault UK Championship already, but Sevenoaks motor racing ace Mike Conway proved he is not letting up in his pursuit of complete dominance at a scorching Snetterton this weekend, as he scored two pole positions and a brace of race wins.

The 21-year old Kent man scored his seventh win of the year in race one and then followed it up with his eighth in race two in an imperious display of driving ability, in which he was never headed in 35 laps of racing.

Conway sealed the championship title last time out at Brands Hatch, his home circuit and, with the pressure off, the Fortec Motorsport driver proved once again why he is a star of the future by sweeping all before him at the Norfolk track, the scene of his maiden FRenault UK victory in April last year.

Qualifying seemed a mere formality for Conway in the first session he needed just four laps to set the pole-winning time, and only completed another three before returning to the pits, confident that his time would not be beaten.

"I did the time in the first few laps and didn't need to do any more," explained Conway. "It was already really hot during the first session and I knew it was going to be hotter for the second session so it was better to save the tyres. It's more difficult to get a quick time when it's hotter because the engine doesn't breathe as well."

Second qualifying brought more of the same dominance. As Conway predicted, the times were generally slower thanks to the session's warmer afternoon slot, but he cemented his place at the top of the pack with a time almost half a second quicker than anyone else.

He took a little longer to do it this time, spending the first half of the session calmly increasing his pace before popping a top 10 time in. With 10 minutes of the session left, he moved up to second before snatching pole two minutes later from his team-mate Stuart Hall. Not content with sealing pole, Conway proved his quality by going a full four tenths quicker on his final lap of the session.

"When the conditions are this warm, it is more difficult to get a time," stated Conway. "Getting a tow can give you so much speed, so it's important to time it right. I went out, set some times and then came in and we changed a couple of minor things. The session went very well."

In race one, Conway made winning look simple. In keeping with the stunning consistency which helped bring him to this year's title, Conway made a good start to lead at the first corner.

Team-mate Hall held on to Conway for the first couple of laps but then the Sevenoaks racer's class started to show and he pulled out a comfortable gap, which he kept for all 16 laps, taking the chequered flag 5.987s ahead of Hall.

With no pressure at all from behind, Conway settled into a strong rhythm and broke his own lap record from last April twice, setting a new standard of 1m05.684s around the 1.95-mile circuit.

"The car was really good, which meant I was able to be very consistent with my lap times," said Conway. "I think I had seven laps in a row where I set the same time and I wasn't troubled the whole time."

Race two started much the same, with Conway winning the drag race to the first corner. However, this time, several appearances by the safety car meant that any lead built up by the Fortec team leader was nullified.

But at each restart, Conway remained ice cool, even when Manor Motorsport's Patrick Hogan made a bid for the lead at the final green flag with four laps to go. Hogan held on round the outside at Riches but an unruffled Conway calmly held his line into the right-hander at Sear to see off the challenge.

After that, Conway once again pulled away from his rivals and almost managed to eclipse his new lap record on his way to finishing 2.898s ahead of Hogan. The final two races of the FRenault UK Championship take place at Donington Park in Leicestershire on September 26.

Media contact: Andy Bothwell 07944 651166