Reigning BRDC Formula 4 Champion Jake Hughes secured his maiden Formula Renault 2.0 podium finish on home tarmac last weekend with a third place finish in the Northern European Cup at Silverstone.
The BRDC Rising Star was one of the stars of the weekend from the 27 car field at Silverstone. After topping the times in free practice, he qualified third and eleventh for the two races in his Mark Burdett Motorsport FR2.0.
In Saturday’s opening race, he took a comfortable third place, before recovering from being pushed on the grass on the opening lap of race two to climb to fifth at the finish. Those results meant he was the second highest points scorer from the weekend.
Talking about the podium finish, Hughes said: “It’s a small monkey off my back. I was hoping the top two would start fighting a bit, but they didn’t and halfway through the race it stagnated a bit. I was half pushing, half saving my tyres, in case they tangled but they didn’t.
“I’m enjoying myself a lot more now because we’re actually racing,” he added. “My points from the weekend are exactly what we needed after Monza, so I’m really looking forward to climbing up the championship order over the next few races.”
The next NEC race takes place at Hockenheim in Germany in three weeks’ time, but before then, he will compete as a wildcard entrant in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup at Spa-Francorchamps next weekend.
