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Smith And Christodoulou Take Pole At Thruxton |
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Sunday, 06 May 2007 |
Fortec Motorsport’s Dean Smith (Wolverhampton) took pole position for round five of the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship at Thruxton on Saturday, 5th May. AKA Cobra’s Adam Christodoulou (Lichfield) will start from pole in round six after the day’s second qualifying session at the Hampshire circuit, the fastest on the Formula Renault UK calendar. It is the first pole position of the 17-year-old’s car racing career.
In qualifying session one, Smith set a time of 1min 10.180s (120.84mph) early in the 20-minute allocation and that time remained unbeaten throughout. His Fortec Motorsport team-mate Riki Christodoulou came closest to taking pole position but fell 0.084s shy, although he is the fastest Graduate Cup driver.
AKA Cobra’s Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet) will start third on the grid for
round five, alongside Fortec’s Duncan Tappy (West Ewell). AKA Cobra’s
Adam Christodoulou and Apotex Scorpio Motorsport’s Will Bratt (Banbury)
comprise the third row. The 2006 Formula Renault BARC champion and
vice-champion, Manor Competition’s Richard Singleton (Conwy) and
Eurotek Motorsport’s Jordan Oakes (Hopton) line up alongside each other
on row four.
Apotex Scorpio Motorsport’s David Epton (Fleet), making his first
appearance of the season in Formula Renault UK, starts 10th. AKA
Cobra’s Nathan Caratti (London), in 14th place, is the last of the 19
drivers to lap within one second of Smith’s pole position time.
Commenting on his performance, Smith said: “I’m happy with the first
session and I thought I was going to get pole in the second as well but
lost some time in the last corner. We know what we need to do for the
race in terms of set-up though so hopefully I can get two more good
results towards the championship.”
In the second qualifying session, Adam Christodoulou completed only
seven laps but his fifth, in a time of 1min 10.715s (119.92mph), put
him on pole position by just 0.028s ahead of Smith. Tappy and Metcalfe
are on row two, with just 0.142s separating first and fourth.
Australian driver Caratti had his best qualifying session of the season
in fifth place, ahead of Singleton, Bratt and Riki Christodoulou. Mark
Burdett Motorsport’s Daniel Ivarsson (Skegness) improved one place from
the first session to be 16th on the grid for round six. Manor
Competition’s Kris Loane (Kesh) and Alex Morgan (Bridgend) start 18th
and 19th.
Commenting on his pole position, Adam Christodoulou said: “That’s
really put a smile on my face! After Brands Hatch I felt I had a chance
to do well but then Rockingham put me back down a bit. Today has really
put my confidence through the roof because it’s such a quick circuit.
The main thing tomorrow is to get off the line well and then see how it
goes.”
Both races take place on Sunday, 6th May. Round five is due to start at
11.35 with round six at 16.05. Both races are scheduled for 16 laps.
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