IN front of a packed Easter Monday crowd, Cheshire-based Tech 9 Motor-sport took an early lead in the British GT Championship by winning the second race of the weekend on 'home' ground at Oulton Park.

The weekend had started with the team taking fourth place on Saturday in a closely-fought round one.

In race two, Tech 9's Matt Harris made the most of slippery conditions in the Porsche before handing over to Oliver Bryant, who emerged from the pits in the lead for the Hale-based team. A mature drive ensured that he won, taking the championship lead with it.

Greg and Leo Mansell, sons of 1992 Formula One World Champion Nigel, had a mixed start to their season of British Formula Three. Greg had a solid start to his campaign with two top-10 finishes, while Leo fared less well.

He got caught up in an incident in race one, dropping back to 20th place, and in race two a similar situation occurred - this time his race ended when he was hit by a rival at the high-speed Druids corner.

Germany's Maro Engel won the first F3 race on Monday, with Estonian Marko Asmer claiming victory in race two.

There was no luck for Frodsham driver Jamie Jardine.

He was racing in British Formula Ford, one of the support races to F3, and qualified 12th for the first race of the day. Unfortunately, he did not get any further than the first lap.

Things went from bad to worse when the second race of the day had to be cancelled because there were so many stoppages and delays from crashes in numerous races.

* With racing every weekend from now until October, the next event at Oulton Park is tomorrow, with a day of sportscar entertainment from the Porsche Open, the Alfa Romeo Championship and single-seater action from Formula Ford. Tickets cost £12 on the gate.

Further information is available at www.oultonpark.co.uk or by calling 0870 950 9000.