Thomas Hylkema is looking for his first trouble free meeting of the season as he heads to Silverstone this weekend for a Michelin Formula Renault UK triple header at the Northamptonshire circuit.
Despite showing consistent good ace and improving race craft so far this season, the Dutch driver has seen his season hit with serious bad luck throughout. In the six meetings so far this year, the Manor Competition ace has finished in the top ten three times, with a best result of sixth at Croft, coming of the back of his maiden pole position in the series. However a run of misfortune, including two DNF's, has hampered his campaign, dropping him to 13th in the points standings.
The 21 year old has shown the skill to become a podium challenger in the series and with Silverstone uniquely hosting three races for the series this weekend, its is the perfect chance for Hylkema to show what he can do and secure a good points haul for the championship.
“Snetterton was a hard weekend, we had quite a bit of bad luck again unfortunately but we definitely have a good base to start from at Silverstone”, he said, “We were strong there during the pre-season test and especially on old tyres where we were in the top three. I know we have more time to find on new tyres but hopefully we can work on that during the Friday practice sessions.
“We've been strong all year really, I've definitely improved as a driver and the team does a fantastic job each weekend. There's no doubt we've had more than our fair share of bad luck and incidents but you have to stay positive and focus, we showed at Croft what we are capable of with the pole position and that's the level of performance I'm aiming to repeat. We definitely have the potential.”
Hylkema, who is backed by Club Car and TORO, is in his third season of racing in the UK, and is hungry for success on a series he views as the strongest and most competitive of its kind.
Thomas added: “I always say Formula Renault UK is the toughest championship in single-seater racing. You have 12 or 13 guys who all have the potential to do really well and racing against such a high level of competition can only serve you well for later years. I have learnt so much by racing in England, we all want more success but the work we're doing now is an investment for the future.”
