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Stoneman finished third in the race to leave the pair tied on 132 points after 12 rounds, but with each driver counting their 11 best scores in their final championship tally, Stoneman’s single dropped point from round two at Croft proved the difference. However, had the scores been level, Lloyd would have won on countback with six wins to Stoneman’s three.

With a tense 15 laps in prospect at the 2.23-mile Cheshire circuit, the drama was almost immediately interrupted by a red flag after Russell Racing’s Bahrani driver Menasheh Idafar (London) rolled his car on the first lap, fortunately escaping uninjured. A first corner incident also saw Lee Dwyer retire along with Eurotek Motorsport’s David McDonald (Ewell), whose broken steering saw him collide with 2007 Club Class champion Ian Pearson (Didcot).

At the restart, 3K’s Racing’s Kieren Clark (Tadlow) capitalised on his best qualifying performance of the season by passing Lloyd into Old Hall corner. Worswick Engineering’s Rossi (Blackburn) got a great start from the third row to move past Stoneman into third ahead of Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Ollie Hancock (Hook).

Knowing he needed a victory to maximise his title chances, Lloyd was eager to get past Clark and the pair ran together through Island Hairpin before the CF Racing ace made his move up the inside at Knickerbrook chicane. Clark, in his debut single-seater season, drove a fine race to keep within touching distance as the top two pulled away from the chasing pack.

Following the retirement of nine-time race-winner Ian Pearson, Club Class honours were up for grabs and xado.co.uk & JH Motorsport’s James Heffernan (Tower Hamlets) seized the initiative on lap four by passing Reon Motorsport’s Roberto Tirone (Amberley). Bob Pearson (Didcot) was third, narrowly ahead of Fraser Smart (Kilsyth) and Muzz Race’s Matthew Clark (Norwich).

Desperate to claim the second place that could secure him the title, Stoneman attacked Rossi in the opening laps before coming under pressure from Double M Racing’s Aaron Steele (Chatham) who had charged from 10th to fifth by lap three. Hancock dropped back to 17th after contact with Stoneman on lap two, also leaving Stoneman with handling difficulties and hampering his chances.

On lap five, Steele set the fastest lap to that point to put Stoneman under real pressure at Old Hall, while Hillspeed Racing’s Chris Dittmann (Tewkesbury) and Eurotek’s Tom Mun (Market Harborough) battled for seventh before Mun suffered a spin that left him down in 15th.

By lap seven of the revised 12-lap race, Lloyd had opened a gap of 2.2s to Clark who was then passed by Rossi at Old Hall on lap eight. Hancock brilliantly fought back to a place in the top 10, while Lloyd set a new fastest lap in the battle for a potentially crucial bonus point, although Stoneman was still struggling to hold off Steele in fourth.

Heffernan now comfortably led club Class but the gap from second placed Tirone to third placed Smart was reducing by several tenths of a second per lap. Bob Pearson and Matthew Clark were also both in the podium hunt in one of the closest races of the season for the pre-2000 specification Formula Renault cars.

On lap nine, Kieren Clark saw what looked like a certain podium finish dashed after contact with Stoneman forced him wide and down to seventh place. Stoneman was now third and with Lloyd no longer holding the fastest lap, just one more place was needed for Stoneman to take the title, so close was the Championship race.

Lap 11 saw Lloyd set the fastest lap and he was now 1.3s clear of Rossi in second place. Although Rossi set the fastest lap of the race on the very last lap at 1min 23.332s (96.16mph), Lloyd had done enough to clinch his first single-seater title by the narrowest of margins.

In a dramatic end to the Club Class race, Tirone was caught on the final lap by Smart and the Scottish privateer was able to get a better run out of Lodge Corner to snatch second place by just 0.047s, a matter of centimetres separating the pair after more than 25 miles of racing.

Commenting after the race, new champion Hywel Lloyd, 22, said: “It really hasn’t sunk in yet but I’m just ecstatic to have won. I knew I had to get past Kieren early on and once I did it was a case of doing 11 qualifying-style laps to try to get the fastest lap. I did all I could and it was better to be going flat out all the way to keep my mind focussed on the job.

“After a stupid mistake at Brands Hatch, crashing on the Green Flag Lap, I thought Dean had it wrapped up. To come back and win three races in a row and six altogether is incredible. I have to thank my team, my dad, Sara my engineer and Manor Competition, which has given me some assistance this season, because without them none of this would have been possible.”

Vice-champion Dean Stoneman, third in the race, said: “I don’t feel too bad about it because it’s been really enjoyable racing all season. I had a problem with my steering, especially in the high-speed corners, during today’s race and without that I would have been on the pace. To finish second in my first full season is a good result and I’m only just 17 so I’ve got time on my side.”

Rossi, who finished second and set the fastest lap to secure fourth overall behind Ollie Hancock, said: “I was struggling to get past Kieren in the first half of the race but once I did I was able to press on. To set the fastest lap at the end shows the pace I had in the car and maybe I could have challenged for the win.”

Club Class winner James Heffernan, who finished second overall to Ian Pearson, said: “To finish the season with two wins in a row is a real bonus and it was quite straightforward today. Once the FR2000 Class cars had gone ahead of Roberto it gave me the chance to get past and I was able to set my own pace, which makes a nice change! I’m hoping to move up into the FR2000 Class in 2008 but we’ll have to see what happens.”

Second placed Fraser Smart said: “It’s great to end the season with a first podium because I’ve had three fourth places. I was closing on Roberto a lot in the last couple of laps and guessed he had a problem. I got right up to him at Lodge corner and just had a better run out and up to the line.”

Third placed Tirone, who lost out on second overall by just one point to Heffernan, commented: “I did have a problem with my engine and almost didn’t complete the parade lap. The revs were topping out at lower and lower figures as the laps went by and it just wasn’t enough to hold on. At the start of the season I’d have been happy to take third overall but to lose it by that much is something I’ll be thinking about for a while.”

The results of round 12 remain provisional pending the completion of technical enquiries.

FR2000 Class Drivers Standings after round 12 – provisional

1 Hywel Lloyd                  GBR            CF Racing                                     132 pts

2 Dean Stoneman            GBR            Alpine Motorsport                          131 pts

3 Ollie Hancock                GBR            Mark Burdett Motorsport                   85 pts

4 Rossi                            GBR            Worswick Engineering                      83 pts

5 Aaron Steele                 GBR            Double M Racing                              68 pts

6 David McDonald            GBR            Eurotek Motorsport                           65 pts

7 Felix Fisher                    GBR            Quantexe Racing                             48 pts

8 Craig Copeland              GBR            Falcon Motorsport                           36 pts

9 Sung Hak Mun                KOR            Eurotek Motorsport                         34 pts

10 Kieren Clark                GBR            3K’s Racing                                     31 pts

Club Class Drivers Standings after round 12 – provisional

1 Ian Pearson                 GBR            Pearson Engineering Services            152 pts

2 James Heffernan          GBR            JH Motorsport                                     81 pts

3 Roberto Tirone              GBR            Reon Motorsport                               79 pts

4 Marcus Clutton              GBR            Mach Tech Motorsport                       73 pts

5 Iain Morton                   GBR            Reon Motorsport                               70 pts