Epping’s Ayrton Simmons picked up his third win of the season at Oulton Park at the weekend, but it wasn’t enough for him to retain his lead at the top of the British F4 Championship.

Simmons took a dominant lights to flag victory in race two of the weekend having started on pole position, but an eighth place finish in race three saw the Epping driver lose the championship lead to Kiern Jewiss.

The 17-year-old’s weekend got off to a tough start after he qualified in eighth on the grid for the opening race, but the JHR Developments driver managed to make up a couple of places to finish in sixth, putting him on pole for the second round of the weekend due to the reverse grid.

While that result meant Simmons lost the championship lead, the Epping driver was handed a small stroke of luck when new leader Jewiss was demoted to second place after the chequered flag for driving in a manner not compatible for general safety, meaning Dennis Hauger claimed victory.

Simmons would fight back in race two, though, as he picked up his first win since the opening round at Brands Hatch with a dominant lights-to-flag victory, moving him back to the top of the leaderboard.

Starting on pole position, the JHR Developments driver led from start to finish, fending off Jack Doohan, Jewiss and Paavo Tonteri throughout the race to bring the car home in first place.

Speaking to the British F4 website, Simmons said: “It’s nice to be back on top. I was under a lot of pressure from Doohan and Jewiss and was struggling with the rear of the car, but I managed to bring it home.

“It’s so hot today so you’re always mindful of looking after the car when you can and that was an additional factor in the race.

“Hopefully we’ve made a step forward with the car in terms of pace since qualifying and we can perform well in the final race of the weekend.”

But Simmons couldn’t repeat that feat in the final race of the weekend, as he was unable to make much progress having started on row five, finishing in eighth.

Title rival Jewiss was to take the honours, with that result handing him a 16 point lead heading into the fifth round of the season at Croft in two weeks’ time.