Jack Hawksworth stormed to his first pole position of the season in a wet session for Round Nine of 2011 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship, before Alex Lynn took his customary position at the top of the timesheets for Round Ten, his eighth pole position of the year.
The day's first qualifying session took place in cloudy, wet conditions. The first half of the session saw the track drying out, with all drivers setting their quickest times then, before rain started to fall again, denying drivers the chance to improve their times.
It was Hawksworth, taking part in his first meeting with Atech Reid GP after switching teams a few days before the meeting, who coped with the conditions best to take pole with a best time of 1min 25.112s, becoming the third different driver to secure a pole position this season.
Championship leader Lynn joins him on the front row, ending up 0.345s behind, with his main title rival Tio Ellinas just 0.005s slower in third. Completing the second row and leading the Graduate Cup runners is Fortec Motorsports Oliver Rowland.
Fastest of the Manor Competition runners in fifth was Josh Hill, ahead of Mitchell Gilbert and Dan Wells. Eighth quickest in his second meeting in the series was Daniel Cammish, beating Alice Powell, Atech's Oscar King, Fortec's Pedro Pablo Calbimonte and Jordan King.
The day's second session was run in dry conditions and produced a Fortec lockout of the front row. Lynn led the way with a 1min 17.129s, 0.598s ahead of Gilbert, the fastest of the Graduate Cup competitors. Third fastest, enjoying a real improvement from the day's earlier session, was Manor's Powell, who is joined on the second row by Atech's Ellinas.
Fifth fastest is Rowland, with Round Nine polesitter Hawksworth having to settle for sixth. Row four is made up of Hill and Cammish, with Jordan King and Calbimonte completing the top ten. Finishing the grid is Atech pair Oscar King and Wells.
Commenting on the first session, Hawksworth said: “That was a very enjoyable session. I wasn't really sure what to expect when we first went out on track, it was quite greasy which made it very easy to make mistakes but once I got used to the conditsions we were very quick. I'm confident of making a good start later and I will be going for the win.”
Reflecting on the second session, Lynn added: “The session went really well for us. I feel very comfortable with track and the current conditions which meant that it was pretty straight forward. Looking ahead to tomorrow's race, if I get the right start then I am confident of being on the top step of the podium.”
