Avon Tyres British Formula 3 Scholarship leader Ryan Lewis bounced back from a non-finish in today's opening race at Knockhill to take a stunning victory from the back of the grid in the second. The 20 year-old started the first 25 lap race from pole position but was forced into retirement on lap four following a collision with his main series rival Stephen Jelley on the third lap.

After a strong start, Ryan held off a challenge from Jelley for the first couple of laps, the two often side-by-side before a desperate move saw the Performance Racing driver hit the side of Lewis, damaging the steering arm on his BES plc T-Sport Dallara Mugen-Honda. After pitting for repairs, Ryan returned to the track in an attempt to pick up valuable points but at the first left hand corner, the youngster was pitched off the track and into the gravel.

“Things were OK at the start but then Stephen made a lunge from miles back and just ran into the side of my car. We touched wheels a couple of times and on the third lap the car became undriveable when the steering arm broke. I went into the pits and the team did their best to straighten it out, thinking I could go back out and pick up some points but at the left hander the car just didn't want to turn and I ended up beached in the gravel.”

The day's second race saw Ryan start from the back after an incident in yesterday's qualifying and at the lights a fired-up Lewis was in determined mood, carving his way through the field and gaining fastest lap on the way. When the safety car was deployed to remove Jelley's stricken car, Ryan closed right up on leader Mawer and at the restart, made his move to take the race lead on lap four and despite Mawer's best efforts to retake the place, Ryan went on to take his fifth win from seven races.

“I'm really happy with how things went in the second race. I made a good start and some really good moves through the field. I was helped by the safety car incident to close up on Mawer and I'm happy to still have a good lead in the championship despite the non-finish in race one.”

Results from Race 1
1. Barton Mawer Dallara F301 Opel Spiess 20:46.470
2. Adam Langley Khan Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 20:10.374
3. Vasilije Calasan Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 20:19.025
4. Ajit Kumar Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 20:32.113

Not classified
RYAN LEWIS Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 3 laps
Stephen Jelley Dallara F301 Opel Spiess 4 laps

Results from Race 2
1. RYAN LEWIS BES Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 26:52.856
2. Barton Mawer Dallara F301 Opel Spiess 27:05.949
3. Ajit Kumar Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 26:49.679 (1lap)

Not classified
Adam Langley-Khan Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 24laps
Vasilije Calasan Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 20 laps
Stephen Jelley Dallara F301 Opel Spiess 1 lap

Fastest Lap LEWIS 48.765 95.86mph (154.28 kmh)

Avon Tyres British Scholarship Points after 7 rounds
1. RYAN LEWIS 117
2. Barton Mawer 93
3. Stephen Jelley 69

Ref: ml00084
15 May 2004

Editor's note: Copyright free images of Ryan Lewis are available from the website below. All requests for interview should be directed to Cathy Metcalfe at the details below

For media information: Cathy Metcalfe, MPR Associates, Tel: 01327 352199, Fax: 01327 352908 Mob: 07802 332398, E-mail: cathymetcalfe@mpr-associates.co.uk, www.ryanlewisracing.co.uk