A TRIO of south Essex racing drivers are gearing up for a championship charge as the Formula Renault season gets ready for the green light.

Robert Foster-Jones and Tom Armour, from Thorpe Bay and Biller-icay respectively, will be competing in the first round of the Formula Renault UK Champion-ship at Hampshire’s Thruxton circuit this weekend.

And Rayleigh’s Steven Durrant is in the Formula Renault BARC Championship, which starts next month.

Foster-Jones will embark on his debut season racing cars, following his karting triumph in the KF1 British Super 1 Championship last year.

After capturing the title on the final race of the season with some sensational driving, the former Shoeburyness High School pupil will be hoping to continue his success in the bigger leagues of racing.

“Changing from karts to cars has been fine, the team has been working hard on the car and I’m confident of doing well in the first race,” he said.

“It’s been a long winter of preparing and I’m eager to get under way.

“I would like to finish in the top four, and be challenging for podium positions throughout the season.”

The Renault Sport UK Championship commences on Saturday, April 3, at Thruxton and the series has helped launch the careers of Formula One aces Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Räikkönen and Heikki Kovalainen.

ITV will be providing television coverage of the entire season which will include races at Silverstone, Brands Hatch and Snetterton.

Despite the added pressure of national coverage, Foster-Jones maintained that his concentration will be firmly on the job at hand.

The 19-year-old said: “I don’t think I’ll really notice the cameras, even though there could be thousands of people watching.

“I’m used to racing in front of crowds, so it doesn’t really add any more pressure.”

Durrant will be driving again in the Formula Renault BARC Championship, however this season he will be racing for his own team, RPD Motorsport.

The experienced Durrant, who came second in last year’s privateer standings, has set his sights much higher for this year’s competition.

“We’ve spent hundreds of hours improving the car this winter and have made huge improvements,” he said.

“I firmly have my sights set on the championship this year. The competition have all stepped up a level, but we are looking to win the whole championship this season.”

The BARC championship will get under way at Brands Hatch on 17 April and Durrant is confident of his performance on the former Formula One circuit.

“I'm looking forward to Brands Hatch as it’s my home track,” said the 19-year-old university student.

“I’ve never had so much confidence in a car before. This season I’m comfortable with the car and the team that are working on it with me.”

Durrant made the move from karts to cars in 2007, and after spending much time and effort on the improvement of the car over the winter, he is satidfied he will overcome problems which have held him back in the past.

“Mechanical failures have cost me each season. You can’t afford to lose a third of a season to those kind of problems,” explained Durrant.

“We found that our improvements have led to the car being one and a half seconds quicker in testing.

“We may get a reality check from the official testing at Silverstone, but hopefully we will get a pleasant surprise.”