2011 Formula Renault UK Season Review

 

The 2011 CERTINA Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship was dominated by one man, Fortec Motorsport's Alex Lynn taking the title with twelve wins to his name in a year which saw the single-seater series struggling with low grid numbers.

18 year old Lynn headed into the season as the reigning Graduate Cup class and Winter Series champion and used this momentum to be at the top from the off. Lynn took fifteen podiums through the year, with his twelve wins meaning he set a new record for the most wins in a Formula Renault season, breaking James Matthews' eighteen year old record, ending up winning the title by 46 points.

Taking second in the standings after a late charge was Lynn's Fortec Motorsport team-mate Oliver Rowland. The Racing Steps Foundation driver had a consistent start to the season, taking six podiums in the first ten races, but the 19 year old had to wait until Round Fifteen at Brands Hatch for his maiden series win. This started a superb late run, which saw him take four wins in the final six races, moving him into second in the championship and cementing his status as the 2011 Graduate Cup winner.

Losing the runners up spot to Rowland was Atech Reid GP's Tio Ellinas. The Cypriot racer was Lynn's main rival throughout the year and despite Lynn's winning streaks, Ellinas kept in touch throughout the year, mainly thanks to an incredibly consistent year where he finished every race and didn't finish outside the top six in any. Ellinas took a great fifteen podiums in the twenty races, including wins at Donington Park and Snetterton, however it wasn't enough to keep him second in the points, the 19 year old losing out on  just the number of race wins collected.

 

The best of the rest was Yorkshireman Jack Hawksworth, who ended the year 142 points behind Ellinas in fourth. Hawksworth had a strange season, starting the year with Mark Burdett Motorsport, before moving to Atech Reid GP for a few rounds, before moving back to Mark Burdett at the end of the campaign. Along the way, Hawksworth picked up four podiums, including a maiden series win on his debut with Atech Reid GP at Croft.

Fortec's strong season was capped off with Mitchell Gilbert making it three of their cars in the top five of the points after a great rookie season. The Australian took five podiums in the eighteen races he competed in, including a maiden win at Croft when his team-mate Lynn was disqualified from the win. Sixth in the points was Daniel Cammish, who joined the series at the fourth meeting of the year at Oulton Park. Racing with Mark Burdett Motorsport, he made an instant impression and ran in the top six regularly through the year, picking up four podium finishes, including three in a row at the end of the season.

One of the main talking points coming out of 2011 was the disappointing campaign suffered by Manor Competition. After 2010 race-winner Ollie Millroy ran out of money early on, the former series champions had Josh Hill, Jordan King and Alice Powell racing for them for the majority of the year, with the trio only able to pick up one podium finish between them during the season, ending the year seventh, eighth and ninth in the points respectively. The team suffered their fair share of misfortune through the year, in particular King, who looked set for a maiden win at Snetterton until he was punted off on the penultimate lap.

 

Also having a tough year was Formula Renault rookie Dan Wells. The 19 year old started the campaign with Antel Motorsport, but after a series of disappointing results, made the decision to switch to Atech Reid GP at Thruxton. Improving throughout the year, Wells enjoyed a strong end to the season, taking fourth place finishes at Rockingham and Brands Hatch, just missing out on a maiden series podium at Brands.

 Final 2011 CERTINA Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship Standings:

Position	Driver	Team	Points
1	Alex Lynn	Fortec Motorsport	521
2	Oliver Rowland	Fortec Motorsport	475
3	Tio Ellinas	Atech Reid GP	475
4	Jack Hawksworth	Mark Burdett Motorsport & Atech Reid GP	333
5	Mitchell Gilbert	Fortec Motorsport	317
6	Daniel Cammish	Mark Burdett Motorsport	285
7	Josh Hill	Manor Competition	273
8	Jordan King	Manor Competition	265
9	Alice Powell	Manor Competition	258
10	Dan Wells	Antel Motorsport & Atech Reid GP	251
11	Oscar King	Atech Reid GP	210
12	Ollie Millroy	Manor Competition	152
13	Pedro Pablo Calbimonte	Fortec Motorsport	123
14	Will Stevens	Fortec Competition	76
15	Alex Walker	Fortec Competition	41
16	Geoff Uhrhane	Atech Reid GP	19