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Shawyer Returns To Barc As Part Of Three-car Rr Line-up |
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Tuesday, 12 September 2006 |
Russell Racing will return to the Formula Renault BARC Championship with a bang this Saturday, 16th September, the Doncaster team to make a three-car assault on the 10th round of the season at Thruxton.
Erstwhile series leader Matt Shawyer, who has been forced to sit-out the last five races due to budget restrictions, will make a welcome return to action at the Hampshire circuit and is confident of being on the pace immediately, even though he hasn’t had any track time in a Formula Renault since a race at Zhuhai in China in May.
The 24-year-old BRDC Rising Star, who hails from St Albans, contested four rounds of the championship earlier this year and from those achieved a brace of podiums, one during the season opener at Silverstone National and another at Snetterton in Norfolk.
While his rivals have had a further fives races since Matt’s last BARC outing, which was also in May, the Hertfordshire ace is going all out to win at Thruxton and is confident he’ll be in great shape to secure his - and Russell Racing's - first series victory.
“I really am looking forward to being back in the car”, said Matt, “My
last race was in China back in May and since then I haven’t even sat in
a race car so for qualifying on Saturday morning it will be the usual
situation of getting to grips with everything again.
“But I’m confident in our abilities and my aim is to go straight out
there and win, I know the guys at Russell Racing will give me a car
capable of doing that. The championship isn’t something we can
challenge for now but I’ll be going all out to win the race.”
Joining Matt will be Russell Racing’s own Martin Bloss, the 43-year-old
from Andover making a return to the cockpit at his local circuit having
spent the year advising the team’s Formula Renault BARC and Formula
Renault UK drivers in a coaching role.
Martin, who has enjoyed podium success in the Formula Renault BARC Club
Class and was also British Endurance Karting Champion in 1999, also
works as an approved race instructor at Thruxton and, as he comments,
there will be a great deal of expectation on his shoulders from
colleagues at the 2.35-mile speed-bowl.
“Thruxton is obviously my home track and I’m really looking forward to
getting back out there and giving the team something to celebrate”,
said Martin, “There is going to be big expectation from everyone I work
with at the track and we’re certainly not going out there to make up
the numbers, I definitely plan to be up there.
“The main is to enjoy it and I’m absolutely delighted Russell Racing
will have three cars out on Saturday. I’m really looking forward to it
and I don’t think it’s beyond the realms of possibility for us to have
a very good result. Qualifying will be all important though.”
Renowned Blues musician to make BARC debut
The third of Russell Racing’s trio of FR2000 Class drivers at Thruxton
on Saturday will be a new face to the championship, respected Rhythm
& Blues musician Gary Fletcher who, like Martin, is himself a
Thruxton instructor and greatly looking forward to his first ever
mileage in a ‘slicks and wings’ Formula Renault.
While songwriting and performing demand the majority of Gary’s time,
the Twickenham resident is no mean racer having started his association
with motorsport as a competitor in the Ford Credit Fiesta Challenge in
1995.
His first track success came three years later in the Proton Coupe Cup
round at Castle Combe and while his music commitments have restricted
the amount of racing he has been able to do in recent years, Gary has
enjoyed an outing in a Radical and in 2003 took part in the Willhire
Britcar 500 endurance race at Snetterton.
Away from the track, Gary is not only a highly respected musician and
songwriter for the eponymous Gary Fletcher Band, he is also bass
guitarist with the Paul Jones-fronted ‘The Blues Band’. Jones, of
course, was the vocalist for sixties pop act Manfred Mann and his
current act is acknowledged as Europe’s finest purveyor of Rhythm &
Blues .
Qualifying for round 10 of the Formula Renault BARC Championship will
take place at 10.10 on Saturday, 16th September, with the 12-lap race
scheduled to begin at 15.10.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 December 2006 )
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