John Bennett, Louis Sharp and McKenzy Cresswell were the top-three finishers in the second race of the weekend at Oulton Park. Here's how each driver reacted at the end of the contest.
Win, John Bennett, JHR Developments:
"I tried round the outside of Louis on Saturday, almost got there but not quite so I thought I’ll give it another go today and I actually pulled it off. I won two times with Carlin last year but I had to give them to JHR so I thought if we can’t beat them, might as well join them! We got the win this time.
"The first couple of laps of the race I couldn’t see anything from the spray. I knew I had to get right behind Louis or else there wasn’t going to be a chance. I got a good run through turn one right behind Louis, close again through turn two, and got a good run. He left a gap on the outside and I just thought lets hope the grip is there and I’ll send the speed. I got up the inside into the hairpin and made it work. Delighted with it.
"To be fair after it was done, Mike [on team radio] was very monotone ‘good job mate, keep your head down’. When I crossed the line there was a bit more shouting. It’s a very good feeling.
"It’s a dream start to the year, the hardships we had last year, to start the year in this fashion and come away with the championship lead after the first two main races, yeah just amazing, to get my first win, third time lucky, it feels good."
Second, Louis Sharp, Rodin Motorsport:
"It’s not a bad start. This race was a little bit frustrating, the first safety car, the first start was quite good, I built up a nice gap but on the second restart, I was really struggling for grip there so couldn’t quite keep up with the guys around me. I made a bit of a mistake trying to get on the power into Turn Two and gave John a chance to get round me. At that point I probably could’ve been more aggressive to try and stay ahead but to be honest I’m thinking about the championship at this stage. I’ve learnt from my mistakes in British F4 last year, it’s not about winning every race, especially in this championship, you’ve just got to have consistent podiums and top-five finishes. It would’ve been nice to get a win, but with a P2 I can’t complain too much.
"It was very tricky, the track was a lot wetter than what me and the team were expecting so I don’t think we were fully optimised to these conditions. There’s a bit we’ve got to do to get the car into a slightly better window in the last race but I’m confident the team will know what to do. It was tough, the visibility was obviously very poor, it was very slippery. Each corner was like driving on ice, it was tough. Like I said on Saturday I was just trying to not make any mistakes and keep it as clean as possible.
"The reverse grid race will probably be a bit of carnage if it’s going to stay like this so I think it will be tough but I’m really looking forward to it and I’m confident we can move forward."
Third, McKenzy Cresswell, Elite Motorsport:
"That was okay. I think given how we started the championship last year with no points out of round one I’m pretty pleased with how the weekend’s gone. It was really a tough race, there was very low visibility, very low grip. I was really struggling with car balance throughout the whole race so I’m pretty pleased with third, didn’t quite have the pace to catch one and two but I felt I was catching the group in front of me quite well. I think we can be pleased with that, it’s good points to start the championship and I’m happy with it.
"To be fair, I didn’t make an overtake the whole race and still managed to make up positions. It’s always what you hope for as a driver, that the car in front goes off, and luckily that’s what happened. But it’s just about not making mistakes in a race like this when it’s so low grip and so low temperature in the tyres and I’m pleased that I managed to hold it together and I’m really happy for the team.
"I’m hoping [to convert podium into a win]. I think there’s a couple of tracks coming up that we feel really strong about so yeah we have a lot of confidence going to Silverstone, going to Spa so I think its good to get this weekend out of the way and get the points, just hoping to build up that tally in the next couple of races and hopefully move up a little bit more on the podium."