Harry Tincknell took a dominant victory in Round 12 of the 2010 Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship to record his second win of the season, in the process putting himself right back in the title hunt. After not winning since round four at Rockingham in April, the 18 year old took a much needed lights to flag win.
Tincknell started from pole position, being joined on the front row by Fortec Motorsport's Tom Blomqvist. Manor Competition locked out the next three positions on the grid, with winner of the Round 11 Ollie Millroy third, Will Stevens fourth and Lewis Williamson fifth. Championship leader Tamas Pa'l Kiss completed row three.
In front of a bumper crowd enjoying the glorious Snetterton sunshine, it was Tincknell who made the best start, closely followed by Blomqvist and Millroy. The opening lap saw a lot of action, with drivers quick to try and gain positions, with Atech GP's Marlon Stockinger squeezing past team mate Pa'l Kiss for sixth, while another in team battle emerged, with Williamson sliding past team mate Stevens for fourth.
There definitely appeared to be no team orders at Manor Competition, with the man on the move Williamson repeating the trick on lap two, this time getting past Millroy for third. On the next lap, Millroy lost another place, with Stevens pushing him down to fifth.
The trio of Williamson, Stevens and Millroy continued to battle hard, while just behind them, another battle was emerging between a set of team mates, with Atech GP trio Stockinger, Pa'l Kiss and Yelloly running nose to tail in sixth, seventh and eighth.
At the front, Tincknell continued to pull away, holding a comfortable lead over Blomqvist as the race headed past half distance. Behind, Williamson continued to hold off the advances of his team mates to hold onto third.
Just outside the top ten, a battle was emerging between Graduate Cup driver Alex Lynn and CRS Racing's Michael Lyons for eleventh place, with 19 year old Lyons finally getting the upper hand of 16 year old Lynn into the Esses on lap 13.
On Lap 16, the battle for sixth between the Atech GP cars was about to change, with a mistake by Stockinger at Sear forcing the Filipino driver into an early retirement. This moved Pa'l Kiss into sixth, though he was then overtaken by Yelloly, pushing him back into seventh.
At the front, despite Blomqvist closing in over the final few laps, Tincknell was able to hold on for victory, in the process setting the NGK fastest lap of the race as well as a new lap record. Blomqvist finished second for his fifth podium of the year, with Williamson rounding off the podium in third. Stevens followed closely in fourth, ahead of Millroy, Yelloly and Pa'l Kiss. Thomas Hylkema rounded off a great race for Manor Competition by finishing eighth, meaning all four Manor cars finished in the top eight. Riki Christodoulou finished ninth, with Lyons tenth and Graduate Cup class winner Lynn eleventh.
As they leave Snetterton, a disappointing weekend for Pa'l Kiss has seen the Hungarian's lead at the top of the drivers' standings reduced to just seven points from Stevens. Behind, a brilliant battle is emerging for third, with Williamson and Tincknell tied on points and Blomqvist just one point further back.
Next up for the single seater racers is three races at Silverstone on August 21/22, with Rounds 13 and 14 taking place as well as the rearranged Round 5, which was postponed at Brands Hatch earlier in the season.
2010 Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship provisional drivers' standings:
1st Tama's Pa'l Kiss 277pts
2nd Will Stevens 270pts
3rd Lewis Williamson 251pts
– Harry Tincknell 251pts
5th Tom Blomqvist 250pts
6th Ollie Millroy 190pts
