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Metcalfe Fastest at Two-Day Croft Test |
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Saturday, 19 May 2007 |
AKA Cobra’s Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet) set the fastest time during two days of testing at Croft on 16th/17th May. The North Yorkshire venue is set to host rounds seven and eight of the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship on 2nd/3rd June and the 19-year-old will now be looking to add to his round one victory.
Fortec Motorsport’s Riki Christodoulou (Sutton Coldfield) topped the timesheet in three of the six sessions held over the two days. Fortec’s Duncan Tappy (Ewell) and Manor Competition’s Alexander Sims (Peterborough) also headed individual sessions. Thursday’s session saw 10 drivers from the Formula Renault BARC Championship join the test ahead of rounds two and three of the series at Croft this weekend.
In Wednesday’s two sessions, Duncan Tappy set the pace during the
morning stint with a time of 1min 18.030s (98.04mph). A late effort
from team-mate Dean Smith (Wolverhampton) saw the round five and six
winner lap within 0.052s of Tappy, with Metcalfe in third.
Apotex Scorpio Motorsport’s Will Bratt (Banbury) was fourth ahead of
AKA Cobra’s Adam Christodoulou (Lichfield). Hi Tech Racing’s Andrew
Meyrick (Oakmere), who is not registered for the Championship, was
sixth quickest as the top 15 drivers lapped within 0.892s of the leader.
In an afternoon session that saw heavy rain, Riki Christodoulou, who
had been 15th in the morning, surged to the top of the timesheet with a
mark of 1min 28.048s (86.89mph). Having posted the time early in the
session it gave him an advantage of 1.122s over second-placed Smith,
with Bratt improving to third ahead of Eucatex’s Adriano Buzaid
(Oxford).
Four sessions were held on Thursday, with Jeremy Metcalfe setting the
fastest time overall in the final outing of the day. His time of 1min
17.268s (99.01mph) midway through the session remained unbeaten and he
was almost half a second ahead of his closest rival, AKA Cobra
team-mate Adam Christodoulou, who was 0.486s behind.
Bratt was third quickest to round off an excellent day for the Oxford
University student, while Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Sho Hanawa
(Skegness) had his best outing in any Formula Renault UK test in fourth
place. Manor Competition’s Alexander Sims and Eurotek Motorsport’s
Jordan Oakes (Hopton) completed the top six.
Riki Christodoulou topped the timesheet for the day’s first session
with a mark of 1min 19.493s (96.24mph) to beat Sims into second place.
Smith, Metcalfe, Bratt and Adam Christodoulou rounded out the top six.
Sims went one better in session two to set the quickest time of 1min
17.975s (98.11mph) ahead of Tappy and Bratt. AKA Cobra pair Adam
Christodoulou and Metcalfe were separated by just 0.009s in fourth and
fifth, with the top five covered by just over a quarter of a second.
The times continued to improve in session three as Riki Christodoulou
returned to first place with a mark of 1min 17.546s (98.66mph) to put
him just 0.030s ahead of Tappy in the session. Bratt was third ahead of
Smith and Metcalfe, while Borthwick Motorsport’s Ryan Borthwick
(Hawick) set the sixth fastest time. AKA Cobra’s Chris Holmes (Ilkley)
had a high-speed accident at the first corner, Clervaux, but did not
sustain any serious injury.
Commenting on the test, Metcalfe said: “The morning simply involved
set-up work as far as we were concerned and I wasn’t too bothered about
lap times. I was still on old tyres in the first session of the
afternoon and set a very good time there, which we improved on with the
new tyres.
“Even on my fastest lap I overtook two people so I could maybe have
gone under 1min 17s. But it is only a test day and we’ll have to see
how things work out at the race weekend.”
Rounds seven and eight of the Formula Renault UK Championship take place at Croft on 2nd/3rd
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 19 May 2007 )
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