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CF Racing’s Hywel Lloyd (Corwen) kept his Formula Renault BARC Championship title hopes alive with his fifth victory of the season at Thruxton circuit on Sunday, 16th September. The Welshman led home Eurotek Motorsport’s David McDonald (Ewell) and Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Ollie Hancock (Hook), with championship leader Dean Stoneman (Southampton) in fourth. Stoneman now leads the FR2000 Class standings by six points with one race left.

JH Motorsport’s James Heffernan (London) took his first Club Class win of 2007 ahead of Reon Motorsport’s Iain Morton (London) and Muzz Race’s Adrian Dixon (Harpenden). Recently crowned triple champion Ian Pearson (Didcot) looked set for a comfortable win before a rear suspension failure ended his race less than two laps from the end, while dad Bob Pearson (Didcot) lost his chance of the win by spinning on the last lap after inheriting the lead.

A total of 30 cars filled the grid at the high-speed 2.36-mile Hampshire circuit with Worswick Engineering’s Rossi (Blackburn) on pole for the first time this season after a great display in the morning’s qualifying session saw him set a benchmark time of 1min 14.398s (114.00mph). Lloyd joined him on the front row just 0.109s behind, while McDonald and 3K’s Racing’s Kieren Clark (Tadlow) were within another tenth of a second on the second row.

Clark’s race did not even get going, however, as a broken battery cable saw him pull off the circuit on the green flag lap. Rossi led away from pole position as Lloyd held off McDonald and Stoneman through the Complex. Misfortune then struck for Rossi as part of his aerodynamic bodywork rubbed against his rear tyre, causing it to deflate and force him into retirement and leaving the way clear for Lloyd to lead.

Hancock had a great first lap from eighth on the grid to take second place exiting Club chicane, while Double M Racing’s Aaron Steele (Chatham) worked his way up from seventh to fourth, relegating Stoneman to fifth. Ian Pearson led Club Class in 12th overall, with Bob Pearson 18th overall just ahead of Heffernan and Roberto Tirone (Amberley).

A clear track allowed Lloyd to extend his lead on lap two, while Stoneman passed both McDonald and Steele to take third. Ian Pearson dropped four places, while the Club Class cars of Fraser Smart (Kilsyth), John Johnsen (Houlsyke), Steven Durrant (Rayleigh) and Adrian Dixon were separated by less than one second as they crossed the line.

Lap five of 12 saw McDonald pass Stoneman for fourth place through Church corner, the fastest part of the circuit. McDonald’s Eurotek team-mate Tom Mun (Market Harborough) had already taken sixth place from Falcon Motorsport’s Sten Pentus (Oxford) on the previous lap.

As the race entered its second half, Lloyd held a four-second lead over Hancock who was being caught by McDonald. The 17-year-old took second place on lap seven as Steele also looked to capitalise, McDonald going on to set the fastest lap of the race on lap nine at 1min 14.793s (113.40mph).

After trying to take third place, Steele soon found himself down in fifth as Stoneman passed him on the inside at Club chicane after getting a great run up Woodham Hill. In Club Class, Ian Pearson was lapping quicker than the majority of the newer FR2000 Class cars but saw his race end on lap 11. With the two classes of car having finally separated, Heffernan was now tucked in behind Bob Pearson but still dicing with Iain Morton as the pair swapped positions more than once during the final three laps.

Following Ian’s retirement, Bob Pearson’s spin at Cobb corner in the Complex meant Heffernan and Morton were now battling for the lead. Morton held the speed advantage through the first half of the lap, but Heffernan was able to pass him on the run to Club chicane to take his first Class victory of the season.

At the head of the field, Lloyd was untroubled as he negotiated the back markers on his way to a 2.048s victory. McDonald, able to halve his deficit to Lloyd and proving to have the fastest car on track, scored his second podium of the season. With Stoneman coming under pressure from Steele, Hancock was comfortably able to add a third podium to his Silverstone victory and virtually assure himself of third overall in the drivers’ standings.

Commenting after the race, Lloyd, who now trails Stoneman by six points with 17 remaining, said: “It’s brought the Championship much closer and I did almost exactly what I planned to do. Only the fastest lap got away from me but I didn’t want to push for the bonus point and make a mistake that would cost me the win. It was very close on the first lap and I was glad to come out of the Complex still in second and when Rossi pulled off I just had to concentrate on getting away and getting the best result.”

Second placed McDonald said: “I got a bit boxed in at the start so I went to the outside at the Complex and around three or four cars. The car felt great all the way through the race and I was able to keep picking up places. It was a good battle with Ollie but by the time I got past him, Hywel was too far ahead to catch.”

Third placed Hancock said: “My first lap was a stormer because although I went the longer way round at the Complex, it was also the faster line and I got up to fourth. Then Rossi pulled off with David getting caught behind him a bit so I was up to second. I’d made a change to the car from qualifying and it was the best it’s ever been and although David got past me, to start eighth and finish third is a good result.”

Club Class winner James Heffernan said: “I was racing with Iain Morton and was too far back to see Ian Pearson go off so I didn’t realise I’d won until I got into parc fermé! It was close with Iain the whole race but I was able to drag past him up the hill on the last lap and was through before we got to the braking zone. It’s nice to get my first win this season and I’m very happy.”

Second placed Iain Morton said: “Bob and James were slowing each other down with their own battle and there was no pressure on me so I could catch up. Then Bob went off and James and I were battling for the lead, without realising it. In the end, James just had the pace on me today but second place helps me in the championship and the car is right back on the pace after my accident at Silverstone earlier in the season.”

Third placed Adrian Dixon said: “I’m very happy to be on the podium because I had a terrible start. I made up a few places in the first half of the race but left myself too much work to do and also made a couple of mistakes from trying too hard. Then I came round and saw Bob and Roberto either side of the track so it was a nice way to end the race.”

The 12th and final round of the Formula Renault BARC Championship takes place at Cheshire’s Oulton Park Island circuit on Saturday, 29th September.

FR2000 Class Drivers Standings after round 11 – provisional

1 Dean Stoneman          GBR            Alpine Motorspor                          122 pts

2 Hywel Lloyd                GBR            CF Racing                                    116 pts

3 Ollie Hancock              GBR            Mark Burdett Motorsport                 83 pts

4 Rossi                          GBR           Worswick Engineering                     70 pts

5 David McDonald          GBR            Eurotek Motorsport                         65 pts

6 Aaron Steele               GBR            Double M Racing                            60 pts

7 Felix Fisher                 GBR            Quantexe Racing                            48 pts

8 Craig Copeland           GBR            Falcon Motorsport                           36 pts

9 Sung Hak Mun             KOR            Eurotek Motorsport                        34 pts

10 Kieren Clark             GBR            3K’s Racing                                    27 pts

Club Class Drivers Standings after round 11 – provisional

1 Ian Pearson              GBR            Pearson Engineering Services            153 pts

2 Marcus Clutton          GBR            Mach Tech Motorsport                         73 pts

3 Iain Morton               GBR            Reon Motorsport                                 70 pts

4 Roberto Tirone          GBR            Reon Motorsport                                 69 pts

5 James Heffernan       GBR            JH Motorsport                                     65 pts

6 Adrian Dixon            GBR            Muzz Race                                          64 pts