Marlon Stockinger became the first Filipino ever to win a Formula Renault UK race in round nine – their first of the two races at Croft, North Yorkshire.
The Atech GP driver converted his maiden pole position into a maiden win, getting the best of the start to lead Oli Milroy, Tom Blomqvist and Tamas Pa'l Kiss as the top four held their positions from the grid.
Rewarded for his pole and good start with clear track Stockinger began to build a cushion of around second back to Milroy, who manfully tried to keep up with the leader's pace, even eclipsing it to claim the NGK sponsored fastest lap of the race, smashing the Croft lap by half a second in the process.
However, even with the deficit reduced Milroy couldn't make a challenge for the lead leaving Stockinger to take his win, Milroy taking his own first from the race, never having scored a podium finish before. Blomqvist finished third, himself and Pa'l Kiss having fallen away from the leading duo.
“It's been an excellent weekend for me and the team has done a great job in setting up the car,” said Stockinger. “[It] was really nerve-racking but I'm thrilled to finally secure a win especially given I've had a third place, a second place in the Winter Series and now my first win.”
“I knew the car would come on during the middle of the race so I really tried to push Marlon and force him into a mistake but then my rear tyres began to fade and I lost grip slightly. It's great to finally be on the podium though and credit has to go to the team for setting up the car.”
Further back, in fifth, Robert Foster-Jones recorded his best ever finish, having come out ahead in a race long battle with Thomas Hylkema .
Fortec Motorsport's Alex Lynn won the two-car Graduate Class finishing tenth overall.
Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
