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Rising British star Adrian Quaife-Hobbs took
his maiden Formula Renault podium when he finished third in the seventh round
of the Northern European Cup (NEC) Formula Renault 2.0 at Spa this weekend.
The 16 year-old Tonbridge racer backed that up with fourth place in the second
race, a remarkable performance on the teenager’s first ever visit to the
Belgian Grand Prix circuit.
Driving for the German Motopark Academy team, the MSA British Race
Elite/BRDC Rising Star was impressive from the outset, posting the fifth and
sixth quickest times in Friday’s two test sessions. “Things started
well even on Friday,” he stated. “I’d never been to the
track before and in the first session, which was primarily just a chance to
learn the track, I set the fifth quickest time. Then, in the second
session, we put on new tyres and were still on the pace with the sixth quickest
time.
Come Saturday’s qualifying Adrian then set out to show his pace in
the last round was no fluke, by turning in the fifth quickest time, making just
minor changes to the car ready for the second session. However, his
attempts to improve his grid slot for race two were thwarted by a red flag
stoppage on his flying lap, sending Adrian and the rest of the field scurrying
into the pits.
At the restart, with the whole 28 car
field dashing out looking for any last minute opportunities to improve, Adrian was sadly held up in traffic and
could only manage the seventh quickest time. “I sat in the pits for
a while waiting for the track conditions to be just right and just as I was
about to set my quickest lap, the red flag came out. Then when we went
back out, I actually had to overtake another car on my flying lap, so seventh
wasn’t bad!”
Despite his disappointment at his lowly
grid slot, both Sunday’s races produced another great drive from the
former T-Car Champion, who shone on only his fourth Formula Renault outing.
In the opening race, Adrian did not make the best of starts,
losing three places off the line before retaking a place on the entry to Eau
Rouge. A couple more places were gained before the completion of lap one,
putting the teenager back on terms with the front runners and another move up
the inside at Eau Rouge on lap two soon saw him into third, pulling comfortably
away from fourth but unable to catch the second place car.
Race two saw Adrian much stronger at the lights, as he
held seventh off the line and moved into sixth before the conclusion of the opening
lap. Heading into the hairpin for the first time, Adrian ran side by side with Oliver Oakes
and for several laps enjoyed a great battle with the former World Karting
Champion, before making a move to take him for fourth and thereafter pulling
away to the flag.
“It’s been another great
weekend. The entry was really tough again this weekend, and I’m
very happy with my own performance against such strong opposition.
I’m now really looking forward to next weekend at Estoril when I go back
with BVM Minardi for the Formula Renault Eurocup, where I’ll be looking
to repeat the form.”
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