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British single-seater star Adrian
Quaife-Hobbs impressed the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship regulars
when the series visited Estoril in Portugal this weekend. The MSA British Race Elite/BRDC Rising
Star once again set a cracking pace in testing in the BVM Minardi car to post
the fourth quickest time and backed that up with the third quickest lap in race
one.
On another new track for the 16 year-old
rookie, Adrian once again rose to the challenge and after spending the first
two test sessions acclimatising himself with the former Grand Prix circuit,
ventured out for the third session in confident mood. A remarkable performance
for the Tonbridge teenager saw him fourth quickest out of a quality field of 33
drivers from across Europe.
After the times from all four sessions
had been combined, Adrian wound up ninth quickest overall
setting him up well for Saturday’s crucial qualifying session, which
would determine the grids for both races. The rules dictate that the
drivers’ quickest time would determine the grid for Saturday’s race
one, his second for race two held on Sunday afternoon.
Come qualifying Adrian, buoyed by his testing
performance, set out looking for this first pole in the highly competitive
single-seater championship and topped the times right from the start. Lap two
saw him slip to fourth but on his fourth flying lap the unfortunate driver was
pitched off into the gravel after a rare error. “I simply left my braking
too late and entered the corner too quick. I got the rear wheels onto the
gravel and that was it. I got pushed out by the marshals and managed to get
back to the pits, but because of receiving outside assistance, was forced into parc
ferme, my session over.”
Despite missing the rest of the session,
the retirement putting paid to any hopes of Adrian repeating his superb podium in the NEC Formula Renault
2.0 at Spa last weekend, he was left down in 23rd and 22nd
respectively for the two races.
Race one kicked off on Saturday
afternoon but on a track featuring long, fast corners, he was unable to get
close to the cars in front without losing downforce which resulted in bad
understeer as the race progressed. Despite that a clear lap mid-way through
the race allowed Adrian to post the third quickest lap,
showing his remarkable pace in testing was no fluke. He went on to record 20th
at the flag.
Sunday’s second race saw an
improvement early on in the 17 lapper which saw Adrian overtake six cars to get up into
16th place. But for the hard-charging youngster who for most of the
race was challenging for positions, his over-worked tyres finally lost their
grip, losing him two seconds a lap and dropping him back down the order,
eventually crossing the line 19th.
Adrian’s final race of 2007 will be
the last round of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship at Barcelona in Spain, this weekend October 27/28.
Results of Race 1 – 17 laps
1. Jon Lancaster SG Drivers Project
27:56.133
2. Charles Pic SG Formula 27:58.992
3. Brendon Hartley Epsilon Red Bull Team
27:59.707
4. Henki Waldschmidt Prema Powerteam
28:04.931
5. Jaime Alguersuari Epsilon Red Bull
Team 28:05.399
6. Mika Maki Epsilon Red Bull Team
28:05.808
20. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
BVM Minardi 28:21.558
Results of Race 2 – 17 laps
1. Jon Lancaster SG Drivers Project
27:52.801
2. Mika Maki Epsilon Red Bull Team
27:56.118
3. Brendon Hartley Epsilon Red Bull Team
28:00.461
4. Henki Waldschmidt Prema Powerteam
28:06.564
5. Miha Marinescu District Racing
28:07.690
6. Alexandre Marsoin SG Drivers Project
28:28.191
19. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
BVM Minardi 28:28.191
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