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Title For Hohenthal In Nail-biting Climax |
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Monday, 16 October 2006 |
Fortec Motorsport’s Sebastian Hohenthal (Northampton) is provisionally the 2006 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Champion after winning the 20th and final round of the prestigious single-seater Championship at Silverstone National circuit on Sunday, 15th October. The Swede ends the season tied on 481 points with long-time leader Patrick Hogan (Killiney, Co Dublin) but wins the title by virtue of having more victories, seven to the AKA Lemac ace’s six. This is the closest finish in Formula Renault UK history.
However, the 21-year-old may have to face an appearance before the Motor Sports Council following an appeal by Hogan. Although the race meeting Stewards rejected Hogan’s appeal against the Clerk of the Course’s decision after the race, the Irishman intends to take his case to the MSC. Hogan alleges his rival failed to drive correctly during a mid-race Safety Car period.
Hohenthal won the race by 1.293s from his team-mate Sam Bird (Claygate, Surrey) with Manor Motorsport’s Franck Mailleux (Hull) in third for the second time that day. Hogan set the fastest lap of the race at 55.540s (106.23mph) on his way to fourth place, leaving him three points adrift of Hohenthal. Bird was later excluded by the Clerk of the Course for his actions at the restart after a two-lap Safety Car period, promoting the Irishman to third in the amended classification. This decision was upheld on appeal by the meeting Stewards.
With Hogan starting the race four places behind second-placed Hohenthal, the Irishman knew he needed to make a fast start and did exactly that by passing Manor’s Cheng Cong Fu (Oxford) and Scorpio Motorsport’s Will Bratt (Banbury, Oxon) on the first lap after they ran wide at Becketts. However, Hohenthal made an equally good start to pass pole-sitter Bird, despite his efforts to squeeze the Swede on the main straight.
Lap one also saw the B4 Group Graduate Cup decided when Markus Niemelä’s steering rack broke causing him to run into both contenders for the
rookie title. Fortec’s Fabio Onidi (Northampton) recovered to resume
the race but Coles Racing’s Dean Smith (Wolverhampton) was left in the
gravel trap at Brooklands, handing the title to Onidi.
Scorpio’s David Epton (Fleet, Hants) took advantage to climb two places
to eighth, while AKA Lemac’s Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet, Hants) moved ahead
of Cheng into sixth. The biggest gain was made by 2006 Formula Renault
BARC Champion Richard Singleton (Conway, Wales) who leapt from 21st on
the grid to 14th by the end of the opening tour, just two places behind
Formula Renault BARC Vice-Champion Jordan Oakes (Hopton, Norfolk).
Hohenthal built a one-second lead by the fifth lap and was looking
comfortable ahead of Bird, who filled the mirrors of his team-mate for
the duration of the race. Hogan was unable to make any headway against
Mailleux and with the positions as they stood, the Irishman knew he
would miss out on the title.
The Safety Car was deployed on lap five to retrieve the stricken car of
Smith as recovery vehicles were unable to reach him. At the restart, an
incorrect gear selection left Bird trailing 1.8s behind Hohenthal as
the Swede made a clean break in the lead. This gap soon narrowed as
Bird equalled his fastest lap to that point to slash sixth-tenths of a
second from his team-mate’s lead.
With Hogan needing to make up places, he made his first attempt to pass
Mailleux at Brooklands on lap 10 but out-braked himself and ran wide,
forcing him to defend against Metcalfe who had already passed Bratt on
lap eight. Meanwhile, Position 1 Racing team-mates Armaan Ebrahim
(Woking, Surrey) and Ronnie Theiler (Faversham, Kent) swapped positions
with the Indian driver taking 20th place.
Manor’s Joao Vasconcelos (Anston, Sheffield) got the better of Jordan
Oakes on lap eight leaving the two Formula Renault BARC graduates to
scrap it out for 13th place. Oakes was able to keep pace with
Vasconcelos, pressing the Portuguese as Singleton dropped off the pace
slightly.
On lap 14 of the revised 24-lap race distance, Hogan set the fastest
lap of the race to claim a potentially crucial two bonus points. But
with Hohenthal leading, the Irishman knew he had to pass both Mailleux
and Bird and to deny Hohenthal the title. The Frenchman responded by
extending his advantage over Hogan by 0.820s on the following lap as
Hogan made a small error and his title hopes faded further.
With four laps to go, the gaps in the leading quintet looked settled as
Hohenthal checked off the miles to the title. Meanwhile, Ebrahim made
up a further place as Russell Racing’s Matt Russell ran wide on the
exit of Becketts allowing the 17-year-old through into 16th. Welch
Motorsport’s Daniel Welch (Fleet, Hants) pitted with a damaged front
wing, while Hogan was now 3.5s adrift of the leader.
A collision between Robertshaw Racing’s Alex Williams (Newcastle) and
Comtec Racing’s Pippa Mann (Aldeburgh, Suffolk) under braking for
Brooklands forced both into retirement. The incident also forced yellow
flags to be waved and negate one of the best overtaking opportunities
on the 1.64-mile circuit.
On the penultimate lap, Hogan ran wide at Becketts to again fall into
the clutches of his team-mate Metcalfe and end his Championship hopes.
Hohenthal safely negotiated the final lap to win the title with his
seventh victory of the season.
The Clerk of the Course penalised Bird for his actions at the restart
and he was excluded from the race classification. This promoted every
driver by one position and Cheng Cong Fu’s promotion to fourth place
means he finishes third overall in the Championship, edging ahead of
Bird by just a single point.
Commenting on his title victory immediately after the race, Hohenthal
said: “It’s unbelievable to win the Formula Renault UK title and I have
to thank Fortec Motorsport for doing such a great job all season. Since
the first race at Brands Hatch I have been focussed on this meeting at
Silverstone and winning the Championship. The turning point, I think,
was at Croft (where Hohenthal reduced Hogan’s lead by 26 points) and
since then I have kept winning races and closing the gap all the time
until today.”
Hohenthal, who follows in the steps of former Champions such as F1
stars Kimi Raikonnen and Lewis Hamilton, added: “I was nervous on the
grid before the race and have been having a few sleepless nights in the
last two weeks. But it’s good to have some nerves and feel like you are
really living. Racing is my life and this means everything to me. I
hope now to move up to a higher formula and win more titles.”
After being promoted to second place, Mailleux said: “I had a set-up on
the car that would allow us to start quickly and I was able to stay
very close behind Sam for the early few laps. When Sebastian got a big
lead after the Safety Car it made winning the race difficult but
getting on the podium again is a good way to finish the season. I
didn’t think I would struggle so much in the early races of the year
and thought I could challenge for the top three so overall it has not
been as I expected, but I’m still happy to be on the podium today.”
Commenting the day after the race, Hogan said: “It’s a great shame for
any Championship to end this way, especially one that has been so
close. But in my eyes there was an incident under Safety Car conditions
and that’s why I’m taking my case to the MSC.”
Standings after Round 20 - provisional
| Pos. |
Driver |
Nationality |
Team |
Points |
| Drivers’ Championship standings |
| 1 |
Sebastian Hohenthal |
SWE |
Fortec Motorsport |
481 |
| 2 |
Patrick Hogan |
IRL |
AKA Lemac |
481 |
| 3 |
Cheng Cong Fu |
CHN |
Manor Motorsport |
374 |
| 4 |
Sam Bird |
GBR |
Fortec Motorsport |
373 |
| 5 |
Jeremy Metcalfe |
GBR |
AKA Lemac |
343 |
| 6 |
James Sutton |
GBR |
Fortec Motorsport |
314 |
| 7 |
Markus Niemelä |
FIN |
Mark Burdett Motorsport |
274 |
| 8 |
Will Bratt |
GBR |
Scorpio Motorsport |
263 |
| 9 |
Dean Smith |
GBR |
Coles Racing |
211 |
| 10 |
Franck Mailleux |
FRA |
Manor Motorsport |
204 |
| B4 Group Graduate Cup Standings |
| 1 |
Fabio Onidi |
ITA |
Fortec Motorsport |
163 |
| 2 |
Dean Smith |
GBR |
Coles Racing |
155 |
| 3 |
Daniel Roos |
SWE |
Nexa Racing |
112 |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 December 2006 )
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