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Fifth UK Formula Ford Win Puts Irish Driver in Strong Position
Charlie Donnelly celebrated another successful UK Formula Ford Championship weekend taking his fifth win of the season and adding to his tally of second place finishes to move into a fantastic 70 point lead with eight rounds of the twenty race series left to run. Donnelly took the win in race one following the exclusion of his team mate Duncan Tappy and then followed Tappy home in race two happy to pick up more points while his main championship rival Joe D'Agostino failed to finish either race.
The Des Donnelly Cars backed driver took his Keary's and Killashee Spa and Country Club supported Jamun to pole position for race one and second spot for race two with D'Agostino alongside him on the front row for both starts.
Unusually the Irish driver did not make a good start and found himself in third place behind D'Agostino and Tappy right from the off. An exciting dice ensued between the trio for the first nine laps until Tappy disposed of D'Agostino in a move later judged to be unsafe by the stewards. Donnelly, having seen the exit of his championship rival from close quarters, was not inclined to endanger his championship position and was content to follow Tappy home, but kept the pressure on the English driver right to the flag never falling more than half a second behind and setting fastest race lap on the way.
Race two saw another poor start for the May 'Young Driver of the Month' winner as he again dropped to third place. From the start Donnelly put pressure on Tappy, and as the team mates held each other up D'Agostino forged a two and a half second advantage. On lap twelve the leader suffered a very rare engine failure handing Tappy the lead and prompting Donnelly to again think of the championship as he moved into second place. In a carbon copy of race one Donnelly put pressure on Tappy right to the flag finishing less than two tenths of a second down but happy to again take a big haul of championship points and increase his lead over D'Agostino.
Speaking after race two Donnelly was pleased with his weekend's work. "Apart from the starts I made, that was a very satisfying weekend. Having been beaten into third in both races at Thruxton it was important for me to get ahead of Joe (D'Agostino) again. Having seen the incident between Tappy and D'Agostino in race one and knowing that I was going to increase my championship lead I was not about to take any chances with Duncan (Tappy) despite being quicker than him. I would have been happy with second under the circumstances but was delighted to be promoted to the top of the podium which combined with my pole position and fastest lap gave me a maximum score for race one. In race two I was pushing hard to get by Duncan but again Joe dropping out meant I had to think of the championship and I cant complain about finishing second when it gives me such a substantial lead in the championship."
Donnelly takes a seventy point lead into the next two rounds of the championship at Brands Hatch on the 30th & 31st of July where two more podium placings would move him closer to being the first Irish UK Formula Ford Champion for fifteen years.
For further Information on Charlie Donnelly contact:
Fergus Brennan
Motorsport Management Services
P +353-45-878120
M +353-87-2931596
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