DROITWICH racer Richard Hay and his driving partner Clive Richards clocked up another pair of race victories in the evo Caterham Eurocup when they contested the French rounds of the series.

It was the first-ever visit for the series to the Val de Vienne circuit south of Poitiers, and it's twisty, technical nature played into the hands of the experienced racers.

Race one brought Richards one of the most commanding wins of his long Caterham racing career.

Having annexed the pole by a nine-tenth margin, Richards made the most of his grid advantage to romp away from Oliver Bull and impressive 19-year-old Christian Wangard.

Within two laps, he had built a three-second lead. As Bull came under pressure from Wangard and then Michele Tommasi, he took advantage to extend his lead further still.Richards crossed the line 8.7 seconds ahead of Bull. The second sprint race saw another battle between Bull in the black Acre Jean-backed CSR and the orange Hay-Fisher Caterham, this time with Hay at the controls.

Bull made an excellent start from the pole to lead into the first turn with Hay slotting in behind after a great getaway from fourth on the grid, the throttle problems which had slowed him in qualifying apparently sorted.

Bull and Hay pulled away from third-placed Tommasi as Michele fought Loïc Martinez to retain third. Hay bided his time until the eighth lap before mounting a successful attack on the lead along the back straight.

He thought the race was in the bag. "I saw a puff of oily smoke from the back of Olly's car in the early laps and thought it was probably his gearbox on the way out," said Hay.

"I didn't expect him to come back at me."

But that is exactly what Bull did and, four laps from the end, he re-took top spot.

"I squeezed Richard a little at the end of the back straight and he backed out," said Bull, who went on to claim his maiden win at the wheel of a CSR by a half-second margin.

Hay started the third one-hour race from pole position and made another impeccable getaway to lead the first third of the race before pitting to hand over to Richards on the 12th lap, just after conceding the lead to a determined Bull.

Bull held the lead for only three laps but, when he em-erged from his mandatory two-minute pit stop, he was in second place and some way be-hind Richards.

Richards crossed the line 3.4 seconds ahead of Bull to claim a fourth win of the season for the Hay/Richards partnership and to extend their overall series lead.