The ongoing rivalry left the Crawley teenager in second on the grid for both races, only 0.042 secs off Saunders pole position time. “I had been towing Lewis around and wanted him to pass, but he wouldn’t so we nearly stopped so he couldn’t get a tow and then he went by. “There was nothing at all between us on times though, but planning a race when the lap is so short is very difficult,” he explained. As the first race got under way Hand was straight into a close second, inches from Saunders tailgate as they took the Druids Hairpin for the first time. Alex Solley had joined them in a three-car break, but into Druids on the fourth lap Hand made his first challenge for the lead. As the lead duel intensified it allowed Solley to threaten again too, until he ran wide at Paddock Hill Bend in the closing laps. “I looked in my mirrors and Alex wasn’t there, so I panicked a bit in case he was alongside,” Hand admitted. Despite every effort he couldn’t breach Saunders’ defence and at the flag only 0.271 secs split them. “I kept the pressure on Lewis for the whole race, it was very tight and I had a run on him at Graham Hill and Clearways, but he seemed to get way on the exit,” he said. It was second place on the grid again for the second race and a magnificent start saw him nose ahead at Druids Hairpin, before Saunders got back alongside through Graham Hill Bend. They continued side by side into Surtees where Saunders nosed back in front. “After I lost the lead I tried going down his inside again and then safety car came out and broke the momentum,” he said. Once the green flag was waved the lead trio were soon clear again, with Hand straight on to Saunders rear bumper in his quest for that maiden victory. “Lewis got away well from the green flag, we did make contact at Druids and I nosed in front, but it was my mistake so I gave it back,” he added. Over the final laps they circulated as one, jinking out of the slipstream and trying to breach Saunders’ defence. At the finish it was almost as close as the first race, as they crossed the line 0.284 secs apart. “That was such a real battle all the way,” Hand concluded. It’s only two weeks to the next rounds of the championship at Knockhill, where drivers get the unusual opportunity to have one race clockwise and one anti-clockwise.