Tio Ellinas Added To More Podiums To His Tally At Brands - Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Tio Ellinas secured two podium finishes for Atech Reid GP in Rounds Seventeen and Eighteen of the 2011 CERTINA Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship at Brands Hatch, moving the Cypriot closer to the top of the championship standings.
Ellinas put in a strong performance all weekend, taking a solid third place in the opening race. Tio then capitalized on a drive through penalty for his chief championship rival Alex Lynn to finish second in race two, moving him to just 27 points off the championship lead with just two races remaining.
Tio said: “I tried my best to really push for podiums this weekend but in race two today it was great to make up some serious ground on the championship, everything is still on for Silverstone/ The team and I were trying a lot this weekend to improve the car and now I think we are there so we will wait and see in a couple of weeks time!”
Team-mate Dan Wells had a mixed weekend of results, but overall continued his strong recent run of form in the series. Qualifying a consistent fifth for both races, the Salisbury-based racer slipped to eleventh in race one, but a superb run in race two saw him sit in third and look set for a maiden podium finish, before a slight mistake near the end saw him drop to a season's best fourth finish.
Wells said: “This weekend has been full of mixed results. Race one was unfortunate because I made a mistake and slipped back but, in race two I was really pushing for a podium and in the end I just couldn't hold off Cammish. Nonetheless to finish this weekend with two solid 5th place qualifying positions and a season best race finish in 4th I have to be positive. Silverstone is in a couple of weeks time and that's where I will be focusing my attention to.”
With Jack Hawksworth moving back to his old team Mark Burdett Motorsport and Oscar King missing for the weekend, a space was open for a newcomer to join the team, with Australian Geoff Uhrhane joining for his Formula Renault debut. Improving throughout the weekend on a tough start in slicks and wings racing, Uhrhane brought the car home twice for some solid thirteenth place finishes.
Uhrhane said: “It was tougher than I initially thought it would be to jump into the Formula Renault this weekend. I improved every time I got into the car and finished both races without any damage and that is important. This weekend was treated as a test day for me and I have defiantly learnt a lot from it. I am now looking forward to getting into the car to do some serious testing over the winter period so when I get back racing in 2012 I will be at the pointy end of the field.”
