King's Lynn racer makes solid start to 2020 BRDC British F3 Championship season
Oliver Clarke made a solid start to his 2020 BRDC British F3 Championship season at Oulton Park at the weekend with an impressive trio of top-seven finishes.
After months of anticipation and excitement, the single-seater category roared into life with four pulsating encounters being played out around the Cheshire venue in front of a bumper crowd.
After finishing seventh in his opening outing, the King’s Lynn driver another top ten performance in race two as he once again claimed a seventh place finish.
Returning to the track on Sunday to round off the weekend, the 17-year-old deliver another eye-catching top ten performance to secure seventh again.
After the race, another post-race penalty for a fellow competitor proved beneficial for Clarke as it resulted in the Fewkes Sport Management ace being promoted to sixth.
Bringing the curtain down on what proved to be a successful first event in the series, Clarke piloted his striking red and gold machine to 12th at the chequered flag after starting 13th.
Leaving Oulton Park, Clarke finds himself sitting eighth in the Drivers’ Championship.
He said: “It has been a really solid start to the season. To have three top seven finishes and plenty of improvements having been made I can’t be too unhappy.
“Coming into the weekend I felt more prepared than I ever have done before and I think that has shown. We made steady improvements in practice and managed to hook a good lap up in qualifying; had it not been for traffic I think I would have been even higher.
“To run comfortably inside the top ten in three of the four race is massively encouraging and we know where we can get better as well. I’ve got to say a huge thank you to everyone at Hillspeed and all of my sponsors - I wouldn’t be able to do it without them.
“We’ve now got a little time to look at how we performed and where we can progress so I’m looking forward to Donington Park.”
The BRDC British F3 Championship continues on August 15/16.
