|
Russell Equals Season's Best At Brands Hatch |
|
|
|
|
Monday, 25 September 2006 |
Harlesden racing driver Matt Russell equalled his best result of the Formula Renault UK season at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit today, the 22-year-old snatching 13th position on the final lap of round 17.
The Russell Racing star made a good start to the race from 20th on the grid and after managing to avoid lap one chaos at Druids Hairpin, which involved four cars, he moved up to 14th position prior to the Safety Car being deployed at the start of lap two.
After the re-start on lap six Matt started to chase down Pippa Mann and by lap 13 he was beginning to get on terms with the Comtec driver. Over the next 10 laps, Mann began to fall back from 12th-placed Peter Rees while Matt, in-turn, edged ever closer.
Just eight 10ths of a second adrift of Mann into the final lap, the Russell Racing driver had certainly produced his most competitive performance of the season. An engine problem for ninth-placed Will Bratt at the final turn, however, enabled Matt to gain one more spot before the chequered flag.
“I’m very pleased with our pace this weekend”, commented Matt after
round 17, “It would have been nice to qualify a little better and, on
reflection, I think we could have done that but the race went well
anyway and we showed we’ve made some big steps forward.
“My laps times were only about four 10ths of a second slower than the
drivers at the front so I’m happy with the progress we made. We were
the closest to the front-running pace we have been all season so I’m
very happy.”
Round 18 wasn’t quite as successful for the Doncaster team after Matt
suffered an unfortunate spin on the exit of Clark Curve on lap 17.
Running slightly wide, the Leoline Travel and Maltings Leisure &
Fitness-backed star dropped a wheel off the track and the small error
was enough to pitch the car into a spin.
Although his lap times were a 10th of a second of an improvement on
what he was able to achieve in the first of the day’s races, Matt was
unable to climb back into the points after his spin, crossing the line
in 22nd position on lap 24.
Bentley shines again in Formula Renault BARC
With Russell Racing also participating in the final two rounds of the
Formula Renault BARC Championship at Brands Hatch over the weekend,
FR2000 Class runner Andrew Bentley produced another action-packed
performance during round 12 this afternoon.
The 24-year-old, taking part in only his third race meeting of the year
of any description, knew he had a battle on his hands starting from
17th on the grid and although he initially struggled to get away from
the line cleanly, the Northampton ace managed to pass three cars in one
corner to move into 14th place on the opening lap.
Newly-crowned Club Class Champion Ian Pearson, who was competing in
FR2000 for the first time, would be Andrew’s next target and the
Russell Racing star produced a tremendous piece of overtaking at
Clearways to move into 13th place before the end of lap one.
Although running on very old tyres, Andrew’s pace was impressive and
after moving up to 12th place on lap two he attempted to pass Chris
Lamare at Clearways seven laps later but the move saw him run slightly
wide, allowing Thomas Arme through.
As he attempted to get back on terms with Arme, a backmarker badly
blocked Andrew at Surtees costing him a lot of time but he was still
able to end the race in the top 12 after problems for front-runner Ross
Worswick late-on in the race.
“I didn’t have a very good start off the line initially but managed to
pick it all up and then overtook three people around the outside at
Druids which was good”, said Andrew at the conclusion of the final BARC
round of the season.
“We had a good run through Graham Hill Bend and then at Clearways I
managed to gain another place. Then we got to the point where the cars
in front were just quick enough to be able to hold me off. I didn’t
want to spend the entire race in 12th place though so I tried something
on about lap nine but it didn’t quite work unfortunately.
“I ended up running wide on the exit of Clearways, allowing Tom Arme to
pass me and from then on I just got my head down and tried to put in
consistently quick lap times. The pleasing thing was that I set my
fastest lap of the whole weekend late on in the race, even on very old
rubber, which showed we have constantly improved all weekend.”
Andrew added: “I think I’ve proven myself as a genuine racer in a
Formula Renault now, it’s all about time in the car. Had we done a few
days testing prior to coming back into the championship for the last
couple of rounds, and also used new tyres, I don’t think it would have
been inconceivable for us to challenge for a podium.
“Each time I step into the car is very pleasing from my point of view
and I think, given the correct budget and support through the winter,
we would be able to go into either Formula Renault BARC or even the UK
series next year and do a very good job. I’d love to get back out there
so hopefully we can make something happen for next season.”
Today’s Formula Renault UK race action, which was broadcast live on
Motors TV, will be replayed in full this Tuesday, 26th September, at
09.00. Sky Digital viewers can tune-in to the coverage on channel 413
while NTL cable customers should visit channel 545.
Russell Racing now has a three-week break until the final race meeting
of the Formula Renault UK season at Silverstone National Circuit on
14th/15th October.
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 December 2006 )
|
News