Haslemere racing driver Katherine Legge had a weekend of mixed emotions at the latest round of the Formula Renault championship.

On Saturday at Oulton Park, she became the first woman to ever take pole position on a FRenault grid, snatching the top spot in the dying moments of the qualifying session for round two of the single-seater series.

But on Sunday, her race lasted only two racing laps before an incident with another car destroyed the front of her machine, forcing her to retire.

Having been the quickest driver for much of the pre-weekend test sessions at the Cheshire circuit, Legge (21) was confident heading into qualifying.

She was comfortably within the top six times for the whole 30-minute qualifying session and, after putting two new tyres on the left-hand side of her car in the final minutes, set a stunning pole time 0.2sec clear of her Fortec Motorsport team-mate and championship leader, Danny Watts.

Her telemetry also showed that, had she put her best section times from around the circuit together in one lap, she could have been yet another 0.2sec quicker still.

Legge was overjoyed with her performance. "I had been quick all session, but this was a couple of tenths quicker than I had been all week. It was really nice at the end of the session to see Danny checking out my telemetry rather than me checking his."

Race day on Sunday started badly for Legge, backed by Alresford website technology firm e-magine-it, Dragon Print and Focus Homes. When she lined up on pole for the 18-lap race, the red lights stayed on considerably longer than usual, catching out the Haslemere racer who jumped the start. "I shouldn't really have gone, but the lights didn't seem to be working, which is why they let me keep my pole when they restarted the race," she explained later.

At the restart, Legge was extra cautious not to make the same mistake twice, but that allowed Watts and John Village Automotive driver Ryan Sharp to pass her on the run to the first corner. Legge held third during the first lap, but was unable to make an impression on Sharp.

A two-lap period behind the safety car followed after a mid-pack pile-up eliminated several cars on the opening lap. When the race resumed on lap four, the three leaders charged towards the first corner at Old Hall, where disaster struck for Legge.

Leader Watts braked hard for the corner, catching out Sharp, who in turn slammed on his brakes. Because Sharp was holding the inside line for the right-hander, Legge had nowhere to go and rammed the back of Sharp's car.

Her front wing, essential for maintaining the car's downforce, was destroyed and the front nose-box of Legge's car started flapping around, forcing her to pull over and retire at the next corner, Cascades.

Legge said: "I tried desperatley going up the inside of Sharp, but he turned in on me. There was nothing I could do and I was devastated, especially after doing so well on Saturday. I've already told Danny I'll get him back one day."

The Formula Renault championship visits the ultra-fast Thruxton circuit in Hampshire for its next round on Bank Holiday Monday, May 6.