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Victory in the first round of the Visma Formula Palmer Autumn Trophy this morning went to Amersham's Richard Keen.
Keen
started the race from the front row of the grid, alongside pole-sitter
Will Bratt and ahead of Jonathan Legris and Tim Bridgman.
Keen
found excellent traction in the wet conditions, and was side by side
with Will Bratt going into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time. Bratt
had the racing line though, which kept Keen at bay. Legris lost three
places after a poor start, with Bridgman, Jack Clarke and Jason Moore
all passing him.
Keen
chased Bratt hard during the opening lap, but a spin by American driver
Patrick Barrett brought out the safety car. Once it returned to the
pits, Keen's pursuit resumed and he eventually found a way past Bratt
at Druids on lap six.
Bratt's defence of second place was also shortlived, after a trip through the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend demoted him to fifth.
With
Bridgman now comfortably in second, but not in a position to challenge
Keen, his attention turned to picking his way through the backmarkers.
Behind him Jason Moore and Jack Clarke enjoyed a fierce battle for
third and fourth place respectively.
A
succession of fastest laps from Richard Keen ensured he would hold the
lead until the chequered flag, to take a tremendous win on his FPA
debut. "Bratt held me off at the start, but I managed to get him at
Druids. I just tried to be as smooth as possible, and didn't touch the
boost at all," said Keen.
Tim
Bridgman finished a fraction over five seconds behind Keen, and was
happy with the result. "The first few laps were eventful, but once I
got into second place, the race quietened down. The traffic towards the
end of the race slowed me down, and I thought that Jason might catch
me, so I was checking my mirrors all the time," said Bridgman.
Jack Clarke battled hard to overhaul Jason Moore for third, but eventually had to settle for fourth place at the finish line.
Visma Formula Palmer Audi Autumn Trophy
Round one classification
1. Richard Keen 24m52.531s
2. Tim Bridgman +5.353s
3. Jason Moore +9.696s
4. Jack Clarke +10.087s
5. Will Bratt +10.758s
6. Jonathan Legris +11.347s
7. Alex Brundle +24.022s
8. Richard Plant +24.418s
9. Rob Sunderland +24.951s
10. Maxim Snegirev +30.317s
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