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Round
18 of the Visma Formula Palmer Audi Championship at Croft has been won by
Luciano Bacheta, ahead of Matt Hamilton and Stefan Wilson. The result
means that the title race will now be decided tomorrow (Sunday, 23
September), with championship leader Tim Bridgman finishing in fourth.
With most eyes focussing on the title race, Bacheta went about his
business quietly, leading from start to finish in a commanding
performance, despite an engine problem which developed during the
race.
“I
was unsure about the engine right from the green flag lap. There was a
misfire, so I didn’t touch the boost at all. I used it once on the final
lap on the start-finish straight, and the engine blew up,” said Bacheta
afterwards.
Matt Hamilton proved why is a driver to watch, with a tactical
drive to second, and great passes along the way. “I made an appalling
start due to a problem with changing from first to second gear, but coming
through the field has given me real confidence for tomorrow. I put a
decent move on Tim on lap nine, but I think he was more concerned with the
title to put up too much of a fight. It was also really important to set a
fast lap in the race to qualify well for race three,” commented
Hamilton.
Stefan Wilson’s goal for round 18 was quite simple – finish ahead
of Tim Bridgman to take the championship fight over to Sunday. Things
didn’t start well for Wilson, when he slipped from seventh to ninth on the
first lap after a poor getaway, but he soon found his rhythm, proving he
is a worthy title rival to Bridgman.
“I
had a really bad start, but once I got going I just kept overtaking people
at the final hairpin. I used all my boosts early on, so was never going to
catch Matt and Luciano at the end,” said Wilson.
Tim
Bridgman was philosophical about his finishing position, and the bigger
picture in the championship. “I flat-spotted my tyre in the second
qualifying session, so I knew I was going to be a sitting duck out there.
On top of that, my engine didn’t feel good and I had to use the boost just
to keep in touch. I’m grateful of my championship lead, because all my bad
luck seems to have come at once,” he said.
Bridgman now has a 46 point lead over Wilson, and needs
only to score three points in round 19 to clinch the championship
tomorrow. Racing is scheduled to start at 1300.
Visma
Formula Palmer Audi Championship
Round 18
classification
1. Luciano Bacheta
22m42.330s
2. Matt Hamilton +
2.827s
3. Stefan Wilson +
6.912s
4. Tim Bridgman +
8.630s
5. Jason Moore +
9.063s
6. Richard Kent +
19.442s
7. Chris Chubb +
19.882s
8. Tom Bradshaw +
24.271s
9.
Richard Plant + 24.694s
10.
Chris Bell +35.051s
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