Ryan Lewis converted his second position on the grid into a dominant victory in today's rescheduled round 4 of the Avon Tyres British Formula 3 Scholarship at Snetterton to extend his series lead to 31 points. The race held this evening, replaced the race which was abandoned due to bad weather at Silverstone in April.

Starting from his qualifying position set at Silverstone, the 20 year-old from Royston lined up second alongside Stephen Jelley. At the light a bad start dropped him down the order but in true Lewis style he fought his way back to take the lead from pole-sitter Jelley on the second lap with a dive up the inside going into the Esses. As he extended his lead over Jelley that lap, the erstwhile race leader threw away second place after going off at Riches on lap 3, leaving Ryan to set about the championship cars in front. At the end of the 23-lap race he crossed the line just 2.5 seconds behind his T-Sport team-mate Karun Chandhok.

“I made a really bad start to be honest,” said Ryan. “A bit of a nightmare as the clutch slipped at the lights and I was worried about it rolling. Luckily a lot of the championship cars in front also had bad starts which meant I didn't drop back too much. After I got by Jelley it was a bit boring really, the lead was secure, and I had a big gap over Adam (Khan) so I just tried to close up on the championship cars in front.”

His seventh win in the 24-round championship has given him a healthy advantage going into tomorrow's two scheduled rounds 9 and 10 at the Norfolk track. A series of punctures in today's qualifying for tomorrow's two races though put paid to his chances of posting the quickest time although Ryan took comfort from his lap times being just 1 second off the overall pole time.

Results from Round 4 (abandoned race from Silverstone)
1. RYAN LEWIS Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 27:12.609
2. Adam Khan Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 27:31.211
3. Barton Mawer Dallara F301 Opel Spiess 27:49.324
4. Ajit Kumar Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 28:07.444 1lap down

NOT CLASSIFIED
Stephen Jelley Dallara F301 Opel Spiess 3:29.370 3 laps
Vasilije Calasan Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 3:36.341 3 laps

Fastest Lap: RYAN LEWIS 1:03.364 22 110.90mph 178.47kph

Qualifying for Round 9
1. Stephen Jelley Dallara F301 Opel Spiess 1:02.728
2. RYAN LEWIS Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 1:02.835
3. Adam Khan Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 1:03.582
4. Vasilije Calasan Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 1:04.146
5. Barton Mawer Dallara F301 Opel Spiess 1:04.688
6. Ajit Kumar Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 1:08.163

Qualifying for Round 10
1. Stephen Jelley Dallara F301 Opel Spiess 1:02.863
2. RYAN LEWIS Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 1:02.875
3. Adam Khan Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 1:03.461
4. Barton Mawer Dallara F301 Opel Spiess 1:03.818
5. Vasilije Calasan Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 1:04.655
6. Ajit Kumar Dallara F301 Mugen-Honda 1:07.667

Avon Tyres British Scholarship Points after 8 rounds
1. RYAN LEWIS 138
2. Barton Mawer 107
3. Stephen Jelley 69
4. Adam Khan 68
5. Ajit Kumar 56
6. Vasilije Calasan 50

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

Ref: ml00087
5 June 2004

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