RICKY Collard extended his lead in the British Formula Three Championship to 15 points from Matheus Leist, after he won two of the three races at Snetterton last weekend.

He is now in a great position to be crowned champion in his rookie season in the championship, as heads to the final meeting at Donington next month.

Hook driver Collard converted his pole position in the first race of the weekend into his fourth win of the season.

The Carlin driver led from lights to flag, managing a restart after an early safety car period to perfection.

He soon built up a lead of 2.8 seconds lead over rival Leist, He collected the fastest lap of the race on lap 13 with a 1min 43.884.

The British racer went on to take the flag by a healthy 3.1 seconds and extend his lead in the championship standings.

Reflecting on the race, Collard said, “We’re been really quick in testing which has really helped me as a driver and the confidence in the team is really high at the moment.

"I’ve felt really good every time I’ve got in the car and I can see everyone around me is relaxed which helps me as well. Today was a positive day, we just need to built on this for tomorrow.”

In the reverse grid for race two, the Carlin driver start eighth and he finished seventh, just behind championship rival Leist.

For the final race of the weekend, Collard was back on pole position and once again led the field into turn one.

The Hook racer wasted little time in building himself a buffer to second placed man Leist.

By lap eight, Collard had extended the lead to 2.5 seconds on his way to his fifth race win of the championship.

Speaking about his weekend, the driver who turned 20 at the end of last month said: “I’ve enjoyed myself so much this weekend. The team around me have worked so hard after a difficult couple of weekends to get us back on top. To repay them with two pole positions and a double win is a great feeling.”

l His father Rob Collard the BTCC leader and brother Jordan Collard are back in action this weekend at Knockhill, with their Sunday races shown live on ITV4.