Michael Epps ended his first season in the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship on a high with his best results of the season at Silverstone.
Heading in the final rounds full of confidence after securing a trio of top ten finishes last time out at Donington Park, Epps was quick from the off, getting right in the mix in qualifying.
In an incredibly tight pair of sessions, Epps secured a sensational third on the grid for the opening race, though was left slightly frustrated with just thirteenth for race two in his JWA-Avila FR 2.0.
“I was delighted with third,” said the Anytime Fitness backed racer. “It was a case of making the most out of an ever improving track and we had found a couple of pace issues since Friday. In the second session others weirdly seemed to find a lot of time while some of us didn’t.”
A great start in the opening race saw Epps challenging championship contender Josh Webster into the second corner, though an unsuccessful push left Epps wide and down to fifth.
A few laps later, a great move on Chris Middlehurst promoted Epps to fourth, though the time lost passing him left the front three out of reach, Epps holding the place till the end to secure his best result of the season by some margin.
“We need about a tenth a lap to be able to push the guys ahead and challenge for a win, but I’m happy as can be at the moment. It’s so great to finally get a decent result for myself and a team so new to Renault,” he commented.
The weekend’s second race, broadcast live on ITV4, saw Epps produce another good start to pass two cars on the opening lap, though his progress was halted by the introduction of the safety car.
At the restart, a sleepy moment from the car in front left a huge gap to the lead pack, meaning that once Epps had past him, he was left with a big gap to try and close down.
A three car incident in front promoted Epps to seventh, before another incident brought out the safety car again towards the end of the race. With just two laps left to race at the restart, Epps pushed for another top six finish but was unable to find a way past, leaving him settling for seventh.
“I’m happy enough with seventh from thirteenth, and considering we didn’t quite have the pace to take it any further up the field it’s not a bad result at all really,” added Epps.
His two best finishes of the season promoted Epps to a final position of thirteenth in the championship standings.
“It’s been a really really tough year, and probably one of the most competitive fields to be against too. We’ve progressed with the team through the year and finally made it to the front for the big one. Just in time I guess!,” he concluded.
