Raoul Owens (GBR) Antel Motorsport Formula Renault

Pembury driver Raoul Owens so close to top ten finish at Rockingham.

Pembury racer Raoul Owens has mixed emotions after his latest drive in the Protyre Formula Renault BARC championships.

The 17-year-old produced two determined drives at Rockingham in the second weekend of racing in the season, finishing a credible 12th and 11th in rounds four and five of the series.

It was a bittersweet drive for Owens as he came so close to matching his career-best of a top 10 finish, which was achieved at Snetterton in April.

“I’m kind of disappointed with the weekend but happy at the same time”, he said.

“I know we had the dry weather pace to be in the top five in the races but starting so far back, especially in race two, always makes things so much more difficult in single-seaters.”

He qualified in 13th place for the opening encounter during the first rain-affected run and that was something of an achievement in itself with four stoppages blighting the session.

During the damp round five qualifying period, which was also affected by red flags, he was 18th on the timesheets out of the 28 drivers involved and so faced a very tall order to get up the placings.

“I’m happy I came up through the order fairly well, I got a good start in both races and we’ve scored quite well again which is important”, he said.

“Qualifying was obviously a mess with all of the red flags, it was hard to get in a lap at all.”

The fastest track in the season, Hampshire’s Thruxton circuit, hosts rounds six and seven of the championship, on Sunday June 17.