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Metcalfe Aiming To Bounce Back Strongly At Oulton |
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Tuesday, 19 June 2007 |
Following perhaps his most difficult race weekend of the 2007 season at Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire almost a fortnight ago, Formula Renault UK star Jeremy Metcalfe heads to Oulton Park Island Circuit next weekend, 23rd/24th June, hungry for success.
The 19-year-old Loughborough University student, originally from Fleet in Hampshire, is currently sixth overall in the driver standings but as the season approaches its midway point he is aiming to conclude the first half of the campaign on a high by once again climbing the championship podium.
Jeremy knows he needs a brace of podium results next weekend to really
kick-start his title challenge and where better to achieve his aim than
at the venue of a truly outstanding performance in 2006 where he was
awarded a double ‘Driver of the Day’ accolade for two searing drives in
rounds three and four.
Qualifying in uncharacteristically low grid positions for both races
after some problems during the two sessions, the AKA driver went on to
completely astound his rivals in the first encounter by scything his
way through from 14th place to second position by the time he exited
the first corner!
Providing a complete masterclass in the art of wet weather driving,
Jeremy went on to finish the race in second position. In the other
outing he produced an equally superb performance by rising from 12th on
the grid to seventh position on the opening lap, going on to eventually
take another podium with an excellent third place.
Of course, the BillChaser-backed driver would much rather qualify on
pole position for both races this time around but whatever happens he
is confident of a return to the sort of pace he knows he is capable of
when the title battle resumes next weekend.
Jeremy said: “We’re not sure what to expect from Oulton Park but we’re
hopeful we can put Croft behind us and show the sort of pace we know we
should be capable of. I need to sort qualifying out, that has been the
biggest problem over the last few race meetings.
“Oulton Park was a major highpoint for us last season with the double
podium and it would be great to come away with similar results this
time. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
Pre-event testing will take place at Oulton Park Island Circuit on
Friday, 22nd June, with qualifying and round nine of the championship
following on Saturday, 23rd June, at 12.25 and 17.05 respectively. As
at the previous meeting at Croft, Formula Renault UK will only have one
20-minute qualifying session.
Round 10 is timetabled to take place at 17.30 on Sunday, 24th June, and
will be screened live on digital satellite and cable channel Setanta
Sports 1.
Provisional 2007 Formula Renault UK Championship Standings (after Rds7&8)
1st Duncan Tappy, 230pts; 2nd Dean Smith, 228pts; 6th Jeremy Metcalfe, 137pts
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