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Franck Mailleux (Hull) completed a lights-to-flag victory to increase his lead in the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Winter Championship with a faultless display at Brands Hatch Indy circuit on Sunday, 5^th November. The Manor Motorsport star added two bonus points for setting the fastest lap as he finished ahead of Fortec Motorsport's Niall Breen (Dundalk, Co Louth) and Eurotek Motorsport's Jordan Oakes (Hopton, Norfolk) who secured a maiden Formula Renault UK podium.

RS Racing's Richard Singleton (Conway, Wales) repeated his excellent start of the morning's round one, passing Oakes and Fortec's Richard Keen (Amersham, Bucks), who had an awful start, to secure third place. Keen dropped from fourth on the grid to 15^th as the 27-strong field exited Paddock Hill Bend for the first time, dropping to 16^th as Position 1 Racing's Claudio Cantelli Jnr (Faversham, Kent) passed him on lap two. Keen would eventually recover to finish in 13^th.

Mark Burdett Motorsport's Japanese driver Sho Hanawa (Lincoln) passed Borthwick Motorsport's Ryan Borthwick (Hawick, Scotland) for 10^th place as the Scot ran wide at Graham Hill Bend. Coles Racing's Kris Loan (Kesh, Co Fermanagh) also gained a place, passing AKA Lemac's Adam Christodoulou (Lichfield, Staffs) for 17^th.

CF Racing's Hywel Lloyd (Corwen, Denbighshire) had an excellent first lap, picking up six places. Having been forced to start from the back of the grid after missing qualifying with mechanical problems, the 21-year-old Welshman rose to 22^nd place by the end of the first tour of the 1.20-mile circuit.

A spin for Russell Racing's Ben Mason (Maud, Aberdeenshire) at Druids hairpin caused problems for two laps as his car partially blocked the racing line. Fortunately, all other drivers were alert to the danger and safely negotiated the incident before marshals pushed Mason's car to the trackside. The Safety Car was about to be deployed but was recalled after the swift work of the marshals. An unrelated event saw Mark Burdett Motorsport's Richard Kent (Clifton Reynes, Bucks) retire with a locked steering rack.

Mailleux was coming under greater pressure from Breen than he had in round one and his lead was less than half a second at the end of the fifth lap. Singleton looked comfortable in third position but ran wide at Graham Hill Bend on lap six allowing Oakes to close onto his gearbox. The Welshman then slowed considerably on the following lap dropping to seventh before pitting. His team discovered a screw in the gear lever had worked loose and fallen out, leaving him unable to change gears and although he rejoined the race he had lost too many laps to be classified in the results.

Singleton's misfortune gifted third place to former karting ace Oakes and also allowed Mailleux and Breen to open a healthy 2.5s lead over the chasing pack, which included Mark Burdett Motorsport's Martin Ragginger (Wals, Austria), Fortec's Carl Skerlong (Northampton) and Manor's Alexander Sims (Peterborough). Mailleux strengthened his hold on the race by setting the fastest lap on lap eight at 44.778s (96.39mph).

With two-thirds of the race gone, Skerlong made a bid for fourth place but his move on the inside at Druids was blocked by Ragginger. The American then ran wide with understeer at Graham Hill Bend allowing Sims through into fifth. Ryan Borthwick then retired from 10^th place with a broken left-rear push rod, a disappointing end to the 16-year-old's weekend.

Sims went on to press Ragginger over the closing stages and the pair crossed the line almost side by side, just 0.161s separating them. AKA Lemac's Adriano Buzaid (Oxford) made the final overtaking move of the day for 11^th place, pouncing on a slight mistake by Falcon Motorsport's Dean Stoneman (Southampton), who ran wide on the exit of Graham Hill Bend and bounced across the run-off area before rejoining.

Mailleux and Breen posted almost identical lap times over the closing three laps and it was the Frenchman who secured his second win of the day. Commenting on the victory, Mailleux said: "This was a much more straightforward win as I made another good start, but this time from pole position. The only problem came when I saw the Safety Car and lifted off the throttle, only for it to pull in again. Niall hadn't slowed quite so much as he was behind me but I just managed to get back on the power in time to keep the lead. Two wins is great for the Championship and I hope I am also quick in the final two rounds."

Second-placed Breen said: "My start was better this time but there is still room for improvement. It was important to get two good finishes and I was aiming for a top-six finish when I came here so two podiums is fantastic. I've always gone well at Croft every time I have raced there so the title is very much still on for me."

Commenting after his first Formula Renault UK podium, Oakes, who finished as Vice-Champion in the 2006 Formula Renault BARC Championship, said: "I was disappointed that Richard got ahead of me again at the start but I was able to stay right with him and almost overtook him before he pitted. The car was sliding quite a lot in some of the corners and as there was quite a large gap to the leaders I just settled for a podium finish."

Rounds three and four, the final races of the 2006 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Winter Championship, take place at Croft, north Yorkshire on Saturday, 11^th November. Qualifying will be held on the same day.

Drivers' Championship standings after Round 2 - provisional