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Bird Claims Third Win As Title Race Takes Another Twist |
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Monday, 11 September 2006 |
Sam Bird (Claygate, Surrey) drove a faultless race from pole position to win round 15 of the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship at Donington Park, as part of the huge World Series by Renault meeting. The Fortec Motorsport man made a clean start to lead by nearly two seconds at the end of the first lap and was never threatened as he picked up his third win of the season in front of 56,700 people.
Bird banished the memory of his previous visit to the circuit in July, when his race in round 12 ended in a big accident at Hollywood corner. On the day when 2003 Formula Renault UK Champion Lewis Hamilton was crowned GP2 Champion, Bird made clear his intention to follow the McLaren test driver on the career path to Formula One.
At the start of the race, Championship leader Patrick Hogan (Killiney, Co Dublin) spun on the wet grass after pulling alongside title-rival Sebastian Hohenthal (Northampton) and dropped to last place. Hohenthal was later excluded from the results by the Clerk of the Course for his part in Hogan’s spin, a decision upheld on appeal by the meeting Stewards.
Hohenthal remained Bird’s closest rival with Markus Niemelä (Lincoln) and Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet, Hants) third and fourth. In
midfield, Duncan Tappy (West Cheam, Surrey) retired on lap two, while
Franck Mailleux’ (Hull) attempt to pass James Sutton (New Barnet,
Herts) resulted in both drivers dropping down the order to 13th and
14th place.
On lap four, Welch Motorsport’s Daniel Welch (Fleet, Hants), making his
return to the series after competing last season, passed Daniel Roos
(Bishop’s Stortford) for 10th place. Meanwhile, Position 1 Racing’s
Armaan Ebrahim (Woking, Surrey) made up six places from his 14th grid
slot by lap three, but a spin on the next lap put him out of the race.
Hohenthal led Bird by 2.523s at the midway point of the 12-lap race, as
Hogan continued his fight back by passing Alex Williams (Newcastle) for
16th place. On the following lap, Sutton recovered one position by
overtaking Armani Jamrozinski (Bishop’s Stortford) at Goddard’s after
an initial attempt at the Melbourne Hairpin.
In the battle for the the final podium spot, Niemelä led Metcalfe and
Cheng Cong Fu (Oxford). But a piece of Niemelä’s bodywork came into
contact with his rear wheel causing him to slow, allowing Metcalfe and
Cheng to pass. Niemelä was able to maintain fifth place ahead of Dean
Smith (Wolverhampton) and David Epton (Fleet, Hants).
A handful of retirements in the closing stages, combined with another
sweeping overtaking move, allowed Hogan to make up ground to 13th place
by the chequered flag. Fabio Onidi (Northampton) also drove a fine
recovery race after spinning on lap one to avoid Hogan and finished
ninth, just three places behind leading B4 Group Graduate Cup driver
Smith.
Bird began the final lap with a margin of 3.842s over his team-mate and
cruised to the finish for his third race win in his debut season in the
series, which secures his place in the top six of the Drivers’
standings. Commenting on the race, he said: “I could see Sebastian in
my mirrors every lap so that made sure I was pushing it. He was very
quick and looks strong for the second race but two podiums from this
weekend will help my Championship.
After being promoted to second place, Metcalfe said: “I was very happy
to be on the podium because it was a great race, first with Markus and
then with Cheng behind me. I’m not sure I would have passed Markus had
he not had a problem but when he slowed, I moved to the right hand side
and got through on the inside at Coppice.”
Cheng Cong Fu was elevated to third place following Hohenthal’s
exclusion, adding: “I had a good battle with Jeremy and we were both
lapping very quickly. I managed to close up on him a couple of times
but not close enough to pass. For me, it’s another podium and gives me
a chance of finishing second in the Championship.”
Standings after Round 15 – provisional
| Pos. |
Driver |
Nationality |
Team |
Points |
| Drivers’ Championship |
| 1 |
Patrick Hogan |
IRL |
AKA Lemac |
357 |
| 2 |
Sebastian Hohenthal |
SWE |
Fortec Motorsport |
346 |
| 3 |
Cheng Cong Fu |
CHN |
Manor Motorsport |
279 |
| 4 |
Jeremy Metcalfe |
GBR |
AKA Lemac |
267 |
| 5 |
James Sutton |
GBR |
Fortec Motorsport |
264 |
| 6 |
Sam Bird |
GBR |
Fortec Motorsport |
259 |
| 7 |
Will Bratt |
GBR |
Scorpio Motorsport |
215 |
| 8 |
Markus Niemelä |
FIN |
Mark Burdett Motorsport |
200 |
| 9 |
Valle Makela |
FIN |
Manor Motorsport |
161 |
| 10 |
Richard Keen |
GBR |
Position 1 Racing |
160 |
| B4 Group Graduate Cup |
| 1 |
Dean Smith |
GBR |
Coles Racing |
152 |
| 2 |
Fabio Onidi |
ITA |
Fortec Motorsport |
149 |
| 3 |
Daniel Roos |
SWE |
Nexa Racing |
114 |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 December 2006 )
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