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Bird Continues Good Form At Donington Park Official Test |
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Thursday, 07 September 2006 |
Fortec Motorsport's Sam Bird (Claygate, Surrey) set the fastest time in Wednesday's official Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship test at Donington Park Grand Prix circuit in preparation for the series' biggest race meeting of the year supporting the World Series by Renault. The 19-year-old’s time of 1min 30.152s (99.83mph) is almost exactly one second under the lap record set by Joe D’Agostino at last year’s corresponding race meeting. Bird’s team-mate Sebastian Hohenthal (Northampton) was second quickest with Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Markus Niemelä (Lincoln) in third.
Bird’s timesheet-topping performance is his second in recent weeks
after clinching top spot at the last official test held at Silverstone
on Tuesday, 22nd August. Rounds 11 and 12 of the Formula Renault UK
Championship were held on the Donington Park National circuit, but this
was Bird’s first time driving the 2.50-mile Grand Prix circuit.
After switching to new tyres in the second half of the session, Bird’s
time on his third lap with new rubber was good enough to hold off the
challenge of his rivals for the final quarter of the three hour session
and he completed just 39 laps, while more than half of the field
completed 50 laps or more.
Championship leader Patrick Hogan finished in fourth place, 0.519s
behind Bird and will renew his battle with title rival Hohenthal in
Saturday’s single qualifying session, which determines the grid for
both of Sunday’s races. Each driver’s fastest time will determine the
grid for race one, with their second fastest time establishing the grid
for race two.
Championship newcomers Daniel Welch (Fleet, Hants), racing for Welch
Motorsport, and Coles Racing’s Oli Poyser (Gloucester) finished 20th
and 22nd respectively, Poyser rounding out the group of drivers within
two seconds of the leader’s time.
Commenting on his performance, Bird said: “I’m very pleased for myself
and the team and we’re looking strong for the weekend. I now need to
focus on qualifying and hopefully get two front-row positions to give
me the best possible chance for the race.”
Referring to his previous appearance at the circuit in July, which
ended with a heavy collision with the tyre wall following an incident
with AKA Lemac’s Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet, Hants), Bird said: “That’s not
in my mind at all this week. It looked bad on television and it didn’t
feel great in the car either, but I’m big enough and old enough to put
it behind me and move on and I’m fully focussed on the job in hand this
week.”
Qualifying for rounds 15 and 16 of the Formula Renault UK with Michelin
Championship is scheduled for Saturday, 9th September at 13:25 – 13:45.
Round 15 is scheduled for Sunday, 10th September at 10:05 with round 16
scheduled on Sunday, 10th September at 16:00. Both races are due to
last 12 laps.
Standings after Round 14 - provisional
| Pos. |
Drver |
Nationality |
Team |
Points |
| Drivers’ Championship |
| 1 |
Patrick Hogan |
IRL |
AKA Lemac |
348 |
| 2 |
Sebastian Hohenthal |
SWE |
Fortec Motorsport |
346 |
| 3 |
Cheng Cong Fu |
CHN |
Manor Motorsport |
254 |
| 4 |
James Sutton |
GBR |
Fortec Motorsport |
253 |
| 5 |
Jeremy Metcalfe |
GBR |
AKA Lemac |
242 |
| 6 |
Sam Bird |
GBR |
Fortec Motorsport |
227 |
| B4 Group Graduate Cup |
| 1 |
Fabio Onidi |
ITA |
Fortec Motorsport |
135 |
| 2 |
Dean Smith |
GBR |
Coles Racing |
132 |
| 3 |
Daniel Roos |
SWE |
Nexa Racing |
115 |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 29 December 2006 )
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