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Tim on top on Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit |
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Monday, 30 April 2007 |
Tim Bridgman made it three different winners from the first three Visma Formula Palmer Audi races of 2007 as he took victory in the first race of the Brands Hatch Grand Prix triple-header.
Former Formula BMW UK champion Bridgman took full advantage of polesitter Jolyon Palmer's sluggish start, and took a lead that he would never lose, despite some pressure from Luciano Bacheta late on, whose second place further strengthened his position at the top of the points table.
At the start, Bridgman's Laser Skoda-backed car and the Luxardo machine
of Giacomo Petrobelli both made it past Palmer, who managed to keep the
Tradelink car of Bacheta at bay. Petrobelli was on the limit in his
quest for second place, but could only hold it until lap six when
Palmer dived up the inside at Druids.
Palmer then set about chasing down Bridgman's four-second advantage,
setting some of the fastest laps of the race as he went, but his race
was to come to an early end as he spun and crashed at Surtees after
putting two wheels on the grass. This, allied to a collision between
Alex Brundle and Tom Bradshaw which forced the latter to retire,
brought out the Safety Car.
At the front, the following restart proved no problem for Bridgman as
he rattled off the remaining laps to take victory from Bacheta by a
second. "It was disappointing to lose a big lead to the safety car, but
I'm delighted to get my first win on the board" he said.
Bacheta, meanwhile, was pleased to take second after losing a place to
Andy Demetriou at the start. "I overtook Demetriou at Westfield, which
was scary to say the least! I'm happy to score another 20 points, and
it's good to keep my challenge for the title on track."
Petrobelli was delighted to score a podium in his final FPA meeting,
especially after coming under sustained pressure from Dominik Jackson
for third in the closing laps. "Silverstone was a very disappointing
weekend for me, so I'm really happy to get on the podium and feel back
in touch with the leaders," said an ecstatic Italian.
Behind fourth-placed Jackson, fifth went to Stefan Wilson after
charging through from ninth on the grid, and will be worth watching in
Round 4 later today from his front-row grid slot. Richard Kent took
sixth, followed by Demetriou and Jack Clarke, who recovered superbly to
finish eighth after stalling at the start. Richard Plant finished
ninth, relegating Chris Bell to tenth on the final lap.
Formula Palmer Audi - Round 3 Result
1. Tim Bridgman 16 Laps in 25m34.062s
2. Luciano Bacheta +1.057s
3. Giacomo Petrobelli +4.709s
4. Dominik Jackson +5.154s
5. Stefan Wilson +6.078s
6. Richard Kent +9.684s
7. Andy Demetriou +10.210s
8. Jack Clarke +10.558s
9. Richard Kent +11.617s
10. Chris Bell +12.021s
11. Chris Chubb +15.344s
12. Mark Powell +15.760s
13. Russell Small +17.742s
14. Nik Iruwan +18.845s
15. Alex Brundle +22.552s
16. Doros Loucaides +22.787s
17. Derrick Collin +24.730s
18. Max Snegirev +32.452s
19. Jeremy Preddy +37.645s
20. Jason Moore +1 lap
Did Not Finish
Jolyon Palmer – 8 laps completed
Tom Bradshaw – 7 laps completed
Fastest Lap - Jolyon Palmer, Lap 5 - 1m25.599s
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