A top three finish in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers’ championship is back within reach for St Albans racer Seb Morris after a supreme victory in round 11 at Assen.

Having only just missed out on the podium during the weekend’s opening encounter at the Dutch track, the Caterham Racing Academy youngster eased to a huge 7.5 second winning margin in race two and also posted the fastest lap of the race.

Marking the second win of Seb’s maiden season in European-level competition, the Assen results mean the 18-year-old has climbed back into the championship top five from eighth in the standings.

“After a very disappointing weekend at Spa, we went back to square one,” Morris told his official website.

“The car was supposed to go straight to Assen but we got it back to the factory in the UK, stripped it down and found some issues. Going into this weekend we were more confident and the car felt fantastic.

“We’ve cut the points deficit we had in half so, if we can keep this level of performance going, we could still have a chance of the championship. After the bad luck we’ve had, though, I’m aiming for top three.”

Qualifying on pole position for Sunday’s race by almost half a second, the Jack Wills ‘Young Briton’, slipped behind Ben Barnicoat off the line but moved into the lead on lap two when his Fortec Motorsport team-mate was forced into retirement.

Instantly opening up a healthy advantage at the front, Morris was around five seconds ahead by mid-distance and produced a faultless drive in front of 80,000 spectators to take the chequered flag.

“Ben got me off the line and we were set for a good race, then he had his mechanical problem and that made things much easier for me,” said Morris.

“After that, I was able to just drive away and I could do what I wanted with the car. Winning by almost eight seconds was fantastic.”

Next on the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC calendar is a visit to Most in the Czech Republic on August 30 – the penultimate race meeting of the 2014 season – where Morris will be aiming to capitalise on his current form and put further pressure on the championship leaders during the all-important triple-header.