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Smith Takes First Formula Renault UK Victory |
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Monday, 07 May 2007 |
Dean Smith (Wolverhampton) scored his first-ever victory in the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship in round five at Thruxton on Sunday, 6th May. The 19-year-old, in his second season of the single-seater category, led home a Fortec Motorsport one-two-three with Riki Christodoulou (Sutton Coldfield) in second and Duncan Tappy (Ewell) third.
Drama before the start of the lap saw AKA Cobra’s Chris Holmes (Ilkley) start from the pitlane after a water leak and Manor Competition’s Richard Singleton (Conwy) stall on the grid before the green flag lap. Singleton re-took his position on the grid and was issued a drive through penalty, which he served on lap five. Holmes also served a drive through penalty on lap three.
As the race began, Smith made a clean start to lead the 19-strong field
into the Complex for the first time. AKA Cobra’s Jeremy Metcalfe
(Fleet), racing on his local circuit, initially lost out to Tappy but
regained third place at Campbell. Tappy fought back and passed Metcalfe
through the high-speed Church corner as both drivers showed incredible
bravery.
As the duo raced up Woodham Hill, Metcalfe made the slightest contact
with the rear of Tappy’s car, causing part of his front-wing to
dislodge. This would compromise Metcalfe’s whole race as he struggled
with downforce and he would eventually finish eighth. The first man to
pass him was Apotex Scorpio Motorsport’s Will Bratt (Banbury) who took
fourth place and stayed there throughout the 16 laps with another solid
performance.
At the head of the field, second-placed Riki Christodoulou was the
quickest man on lap two and was just 0.8s behind Smith. Meanwhile, his
cousin, Adam Christodoulou passed his AKA Cobra team-mate Metcalfe for
sixth place despite being under pressure himself from Eucatex’s Adriano
Buzaid (Oxford).
On lap six, Metcalfe dropped to seventh place as Eurotek Motorsport’s
Jordan Oakes (Hopton) passed him. Although Oakes was unable to gain
ground on Adam Christodoulou, sixth place represents his best finish of
the season. At the end of the lap, Fortec’s Ryuji Yamamoto
(Northampton) made contact with Buzaid. The Japanese was able to
rejoin, albeit down in 18th place, but it saw the end of the
Brazilian’s race.
As the race reached half distance, Metcalfe was heading a chain of
drivers including AKA Cobra team-mate Nathan Caratti (London) and
Borthwick Motorsport’s Ryan Borthwick (Hawick). As Caratti looked to
pass his team-mate, Borthwick went around the outside of the Australian
at Club chicane to take eighth place. Two laps later, after Caratti had
regained the place, he suffered a rear puncture after attempting to
prevent Borthwick taking the inside line as they crossed the
start/finish line, forcing Caratti to pit.
All the while, Smith’s lead had been stable at just over a second but
he did begin to edge away in the closing laps to a two-second
advantage. There was still plenty of action in midfield, however, with
Singleton recovering brilliantly after his penalty to pass Borthwick
for 10th place. Borthwick had also lost out to Manor Competition’s Kris
Loane (Kesh) after suffering front wing damage in the incident with
Caratti.
On lap 14, Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Sho Hanawa (Skegness) spun at the
Club chicane for the second time in the race, dropping him to 16th
place. The last lap saw Manor Competition’s Alexander Sims
(Peterborough), who spun down to last place on lap two, complete a
remarkable comeback of his own to finish 11th ahead of Borthwick.
Singleton also made up one further place by passing Loane for ninth.
By the chequered flag, Smith’s lead was 2.171s as he cruised to his
maiden win in the series. Commenting after the race, Smith said: “The
car was fantastic out there for the whole race. It was a very nice
situation to be in with my team-mate behind me but Riki was quick so I
had to keep pressing. It feels great to get my first win early in the
season and that will boost my confidence for more wins later in the
year.”
Second-placed Riki Christodoulou said: “I managed to get a good start
again after poor ones at Brands Hatch and I was only under pressure on
the first lap from Duncan and Jeremy. It was hard to catch Dean so I
was really trying to look after my car for the second race and to get
on the podium again is brilliant.”
Third-placed Tappy, who now has a 17-point lead in the drivers’
standings, said: “I had some oversteer, which may have been caused by
the early tap from Jeremy. Obviously third place isn’t as good as a win
but there’s a championship to think about and I can’t be unhappy to
finish on the podium.”
Drivers’ Championship standings after Round 5 - provisional
1 Duncan Tappy GBR Fortec Motorsport 153 pts
2 Dean Smith GBR Fortec Motorsport 136 pts
3 Adam Christodoulou GBR AKA Cobra 111 pts
4 Riki Christodoulou GBR Fortec Motorsport 108 pts
5 Jeremy Metcalfe GBR AKA Cobra 96 pts
6 Richard Singleton GBR Manor Competition 78 pts
7 Will Bratt GBR Apotex Scorpio Motorsport 71 pts
8 Jordan Oakes GBR Eurotek Motorsport 56 pts
9 Alexander Sims GBR Manor Competition 51 pts
10 Chris Holmes GBR AKA Cobra 47 pts
Graduate Cup Standings after Round 5 – provisional
1 Adam Christodoulou GBR AKA Cobra 111 pts
2 Riki Christodoulou GBR Fortec Motorsport 108 pts
3 Richard Singleton GBR Manor Competition 78 pts
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