|
Lloyd Extends Lead With Second Win Of The Season |
|
|
|
|
Tuesday, 19 June 2007 |
Hywel Lloyd (Corwen) clinched his second victory of the 2007 Formula Renault BARC Championship in an action packed race at Oulton Park Island circuit on Saturday, 16th June, extending his lead at the top of the FR2000 Class drivers’ standings to six points. The CF Racing man finished ahead of Alpine Racing’s Dean Stoneman (Southampton) and Eurotek Motorsport’s David McDonald (Ewell).
Club Class series leader, Pearson Engineering Services’ Ian Pearson
(Didcot), made it four wins out of four ahead of Mark Clutton Racing’s
Marcus Clutton (Oldham) and Reon Motorsport’s Iain Morton (London).
Adding one bonus point each for pole position and fastest lap, Pearson
now leads the Club Class drivers’ standings by 20 points from Clutton.
There was drama right from the start of the race as a capacity grid of
30 cars took to the grid at the 2.26-mile Cheshire circuit. Double M
Racing’s Aaron Steele (Chatham) was on pole position by just 0.007s
from Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Ollie Hancock (Hook) after a qualifying
session split in two by a red flag after a spin by Boulevard Team
Racing’s Joshua Brooks.
Hancock made the better start to lead Steele through the first two
corners ahead of Lloyd, while Stoneman also climbed two places from his
eighth place grid slot. On the run to the hairpin on lap one, Hancock
defended the inside line but Steele tried to squeeze past before
bumping the leader into a spin. Steele retired from the race, while
Hancock was forced to wait for a gap in the traffic before rejoining in
20th place.
By the end of the lap, Lloyd held a clear lead over Worswick
Engineering’s Rossi (Blackburn) and Falcon Motorsport’s Sten Pentus
(Oxford) who was up to third after starting ninth. Stoneman soon passed
Pentus and then also overtook Rossi at the first corner, Old Hall, to
lie second by the end of lap three, although almost five seconds adrift
of Lloyd.
In Club Class, Pearson held a comfortable lead over Clutton having
claimed pole position late in the session on a drying track. Running
just outside the top 10 overall, Pearson enjoyed a battle with Mark
Burdett Motorsport’s FR2000 Class duo Pierre Renom (London) and Denis
Autier (London). Clutton was involved in his own tussle with the newer
model Middle East/Russell Racing car of Menasheh Idafar (London),
eventually losing out on lap six to the Bahraini driver.
On lap three, Renom passed both Pearson and Autier to take 12th place
but would then retire on lap eight. Two retirements had already come on
lap six in unrelated incidents. Falcon Motorspot’s Craig Copeland
(Wimbourne) retired at Knickerbrook chicane, while Rossi encountered
problems with his battery and was forced to pit.
Jigsaw Engineering’s Louis Hamilton-Smith (Stratford upon Avon) joined
Hancock in having to fight his way back through the field after
spinning out of fifth place at Deer Leap. Rejoining in 26th, the
23-year-old made his way up to a creditable 11th at the end.
By the midway stage of the 16-lap race, Stoneman had chipped away at
Lloyd’s lead by almost half a second per lap and closed right onto his
rear wing as the pair began to negotiate back markers. Lloyd fared
better in the traffic, extending his lead over Stoneman back up to one
second.
On lap nine, third-placed Pentus retired after running wide at Old
Hall, promoting McDonald up to third having been down to 10th after a
poor start. Hillspeed Racing’s Chris Dittmann (Tewkesbury) ended his
race with a spin at the same corner to become the seventh retirement of
the race.
The battle for the final Club Class podium place continued with Morton
heading a chain of cars including Pearson Engineering Services’ Bob
Pearson (Didcot), Muzz Race’s John Johnsen (Whitby) and JH Motorsport’s
James Heffernan (London). Johnsen passed Pearson early in the race,
only for Pearson to regain fourth place in class on the following lap.
While racing closely among themselves, the group moved up in the
overall classification as others retired, with Johnsen among those
failing to finish.
At the head of the field, Stoneman was unable to challenge Lloyd for
the lead as the Welshman, in his second season of car racing, drove a
calculated race. McDonald was comfortable in third, while Hillspeed’s
Ahmad Al Harthy (Hathersage) was enjoying his best race of the season
in fourth before being passed by the recovering Hancock with just two
laps to go.
Late drama saw Autier and Russell Racing’s Mark Gillibrand (Manchester)
touch wheels on the final lap as they battled for eighth place, with
the position going to Gillibrand as Autier was forced to retire from
what would have been his first points finish of the season. Gillibrand
joined Al Harthy, McDonald and Taro Motorsport’s Ash Davies (Conwy) in
recording his best result of the season to date.
With a lead of almost 20 seconds over McDonald who was content to
settle for third place, Stoneman pushed Lloyd all the way to the line
and was just 0.342s behind at the chequered flag. Commenting on his
second victory and third podium appearance in four rounds, Lloyd said:
“There was just enough room for me to get past when Aaron and Ollie
clashed and then it was up to me to build a gap. I lost most of my
advantage when a Club Class driver waved me through but there were
yellow flags waving so I couldn’t overtake but luckily it didn’t cost
me. It’s a good result again and nice to extend the lead in the
championship.”
Second-placed Stoneman said: “I got a great start to pass two people
and made it up to third by lap three. The car was working really well
and I was able to close on Hywel, especially in the traffic. He was
defending well though so I couldn’t try a move anywhere and I wasn’t
going to risk the points I had in the bag already.”
Third-placed McDonald added: “It was a good result for me given that
it’s only my fourth car race. Towards the end I backed off so as not to
risk the podium place but I felt I had the pace in the car all weekend.
I got too many revs at the start so left myself some work to do and
even if others hadn’t gone off in front of me I think I would have made
up places.”
Club Class winner Ian Pearson commented: “I had a good race with the
FR2000 Class cars in the beginning and was biding my time in case they
made mistakes. To finish 10th overall is great for me and I think there
is more to come from the car. It’s a bit down on power and a little too
heavy so hopefully I can make improvements before Silverstone.”
Second-placed Clutton said: “I got a good start a had a battle with the
Russell Racing car for the first six laps or so. Then it was a case of
settling for second because I was a long way ahead of the group in
third but also a long way behind Ian. It was a hectic race with all the
retirements but I’m happy with the result and looking forward to the
next round.”
Third-placed Morton added: “My last lap in qualifying put me third
among Club Class on the grid but there was a group of us quite close
together. I opened a bit of a gap when James tangled with Bob and then
he caught me again but I was able to bring it home. It’s nice to be on
the podium at last and hopefully I can get closer to the leading two at
Silverstone.”
Rounds five and six take place at Silverstone National circuit on Sunday, 22nd July.
FR2000 Class drivers’ standings after round four – provisional
1 Hywel Lloyd GBR CF Racing 44 pts
2 Dean Stoneman GBR Alpine Racing 38 pts
3 Aaron Steele GBR Double M Racing 29 pts
4 David McDonald GBR Eurotek Motorsport 29 pts
5 Ollie Hancock GBR Mark Burdett Motorsport 29 pts
6 Rossi GBR Worswick Engineering 28 pts
Club Class drivers’ standings after round four – provisional
1 Ian Pearson GBR Pearson Engineering Services 67 pts
2 Marcus Clutton GBR Mark Clutton Racing 47 pts
3 Iain Morton GBR Reon Motorsport 29 pts
4 Bob Pearson GBR Pearson Engineering Services 21 pts
5 Adrian Dixon GBR Muzz Race 19 pts
6 James Heffernan GBR JH Motorsport 18 pts
|
News