Staffordshire's Richard Mansell in the mix again as he maintains form

The 27-year-old is a shot off the lead after day two of the Made in HimmerLand event in Farso, Denmark.

England’s Ross McGowan held on to his slender advantage after adding a second round of 65 to his opening course-record 62 for a halfway total of 15 under par, with Mansell and Italy’s Francesco Laporta a shot behind.

McGowan, who carded nine birdies and three bogeys, said: “I played pretty solid early doors although I mis-clubbed a couple of times as the weather started getting warmer and I didn’t adjust quick enough so I made a silly bogey at six.

“But I bounced back well with a few birdies to close the front nine and then made a couple of silly mistakes on the back nine and a couple of bogeys, but I finished well.”

Mansell and Laporta both shot 64 for the second day in succession as the low scoring meant the cut fell at four under par, with Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald missing out by a shot following a 72.

“The course is scoreable, but you’ve still got to go and do it so I’m happy,” said Mansell, who was third in the Omega European Masters last week and fourth in the ISPS Handa World Invitational a fortnight earlier.

“I’ve had two days bogey free and cut out mistakes, which helps. We’ve been playing good stuff for a while and when I did have to knock some par putts I rolled them in confidently so if I can keep that going that’s a good sign.

“This is why you practise every day and work so hard, to be in contention. If I can keep knocking on the door I’m sure it will open soon.”

England’s James Morrison is six shots off the lead after equalling McGowan’s course record.

Lewis Hamilton finished just seven hundredths off the pace in practice for the Dutch Grand Prix to provide him with hope he could land his first win of the season.

Five days after the first-lap accident with Fernando Alonso in Belgium which forced him to retire, Hamilton ended a competitive day for his Mercedes team in third narrowly behind Ferrari pacesetter Charles Leclerc and his team-mate Carlos Sainz.

One hundred and five thousand fans are set to create a carnival atmosphere for homecoming king Max Verstappen on Sunday.

But the Dutch driver endured a troubled day in front of his adoring fans, breaking down with a gearbox failure in the opening running, and then finishing only eighth in the second session.

Hamilton qualified an eye-watering 1.8 seconds off the pace in Belgium with team-mate George Russell even further back.

But on the evidence of yesterday’s practice, the shorter, twisty Zandvoort circuit appears better suited to the Silver Arrows.

The 37-year-old heads into the 15th round of 22 on the longest losing streak of his career following a turbulent campaign.

However, his speed, and Red Bull’s apparent lack of pace, will leave Hamilton believing he might yet retain his remarkable record of winning at least one race in each season he has competed.

“We have been much closer than we have ever really been,” said Hamilton.

“I don’t want to get my hopes up too much. We still have problems with bouncing and things like that, so we will work on that. But I am hoping if we can make the progress that we usually make that would be awesome for qualifying.”