Avon Tyres British F3 Scholarship leader Ryan Lewis heads to Croft circuit, near Darlington this weekend for the next two rounds of the series on 1/2 May. The 20 year-old FPA Champion from Royston, Hertfordshire has made it look easy taking three wins from three starts so far, but heads to the Croft rounds expecting a strong challenge from his main rivals Performance Racing duo Stephen Jelley and Barton Mawer.

The BES-backed T-Sport Dallara Mugen-Honda driver secured pole position and victory last time out at Silverstone, but admits that the second and third placed drivers will pose the biggest threat to end his winning streak.

“I think the championship this year will definitely be between Stephen, Barton and myself,” said Ryan. “They've both pushed hard in the three rounds so far and I hope it continues. I said at the beginning of the year I wanted to win this championship early on and in dominant style, but I'd rather have a challenge and they've both shown they are capable of pushing hard.”

His opposition however are already questioning how to catch the unbeatable Lewis and will be pulling out all the stops next weekend. Ryan though maintains the advantage with a 23 point lead at the top of the points table and is determined to continue his good form this weekend

The event will start with an official test session at the North Yorkshire track on Friday where Ryan and the rest of the championship's driver will undertake 2 and a half hours testing prior to Saturday's qualifying for the two races which take place on Sunday.

Avon Tyres British Formula 3 Scholarship Points after 3 rounds

1. RYAN LEWIS 62
2. Stephen Jelley 39
3. Barton Mawer 27
4. Adam Langley-Khan 22
5. Ajit Kumar 18
6. Vasilije Casalan 18

Ref: ml00077
26 April 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