Aaron Steele stole a march on his competitors with a victory and a second place at Brands Hatch in the F3 Cup.

Heading into the weekend, Aaron was leading the championship but on the back of a few issues which means he could have had a slightly better start to the season.

Speaking to Kent Sports News, Aaron said: “Actually yes, believe it or not. We had some clutch issues and resulting penalties in the early rounds which cost us some more wins, but still I’ve managed to be consistent which is the most important thing for the championship.”

Despite this Brands Hatch was no time for Aaron to rest on his laurels as it was time to try and stamp his authority on the championship.

He added: “Moving past the early part of the season you start to see who your challengers are, it’s very important to state your claim on the championship, at a circuit I know so well I could see a great opportunity to really stand out.”

The weekend couldn’t have gone to much better for Aaron, taking pole position, two wins and a second place, which means it was a great weekend.

“It sure does, you can’t do much better than start on pole when you’re trying to win a race. Having said that the qualifying times were so close, so I knew it was going to be tight in the races. It is always a slight confidence booster to get those pole positions.

“Unfortunately I was too cautious getting temperature in my rear tyres leading up to the start of race one after all the early season clutch issues, which meant I didn’t get the purchase off the line I needed. I set about getting back into first as much as possible, I had a few looks here and there and was on p1’s gearbox most of the race. The commentators apparently said it was the best race of the day, I’m pleased in a way as it is good for the spectators and helps raise the championship profile.

“Race two was very simple once I got away, just settle in a rhythm and count down the minutes until the chequered flag. Race three was a repeat of race two, until five minutes before the end and due to a car going off, the safety car was deployed.

“At the restart I did my best to get away again and I managed to jump the pack, giving me the small cushion I needed. I was surprised how the tyres cooled off so much and that almost caught me out, but I managed to push on and build another small gap before the race finished.”

Aaron left Brands Hatch leading the championship and more than satisfied with his weekend’s performance on a track he loves racing on.

He said: “There was a slight improvement to be made from race one, but it was all part of the learning process, which once taken on board, showed a lot of progress for races two and three. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy brands hatch and now I am even more excited about going back there later this year for the GP track, it’s going to be fast on these new Pirelli’s!”

Images courtesy of www.psp-images.co.uk