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Jonathan Fildes - Snetterton Preview |
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Thursday, 03 August 2006 |
Irish star Jonathan Fildes is looking forward to getting his SEAT Cupra
Championship season back on track at Snetterton, Norfolk, just over a
week from now, 12th/13th August, after suffering the most luckless
weekend imaginable last time out at Donington Park.
Although hit with a whole host of mechanical problems last weekend, one
of the biggest issues for Jonathan and his Total Control Racing team
ahead of the 11th and 12th rounds of the year is a major concern
regarding tyre irregularities in the championship.
Prior to the first of the Donington Park races last Sunday, two drivers
walked out of the series and a further one followed before race two.
All look unlikely to return at Snetterton next weekend but, in the
meantime, Jonathan and TCR boss Lee Brookes have been lobbying the SEAT
organisers to investigate the claims of discrepancies in tyre supply to
individual drivers and teams.
Pirelli are said to be looking into the concerns but for Jonathan and
his sponsors Asgard Taverns, Applied Signs & Display, Atari Expo
and AM Speedsport, it’s imperative the tyre issue is cleared up in time
for the Snetterton races.
Commenting on the situation, the Co.Meath 31-year-old said: “I’m
looking forward to Snetterton, it’s a great circuit and if we have a
level playing field with tyres – which will hopefully be the case this
time - we’ll definitely be at the sharp end and able to fight for
podiums in both races.
“At Donington we had a nightmare weekend with mechanical problems and
then damage through no fault of our own. But the biggest problem is
this tyre issue, there seems to be something going on which is unfair
and could be the reason we’ve struggled more often than not in
qualifying.
“There has been a major issue regarding tyres all season and it appears
as though if you’re one of the blue-eyed boys, even though tyre
distribution is said to be random, you seem to get a different tyre
which would appear to have different performance.”
Jonathan added: “Obviously my sponsors aren’t happy, I’m not happy and
TCR isn’t happy with the situation as it currently stands. My
championship has been ruined, my team-mate Jonathan Adam’s championship
has been destroyed and so was Tom Ferrier’s at the start of the season.
“Three drivers walked out of the series at the weekend and if SEAT
doesn’t get on top of this tyre discrepancy then who knows what will
happen. I’d still like to take a bet with Paddy Power that the three
championship front-runners will be way out front again at Snetterton
but hopefully I’ll be proved wrong and we’ll have a level playing
field.”
Having achieved two visits to the podium earlier in the season, once at
Brands Hatch and then again during the following meeting at Oulton
Park, Jonathan feels a return to the top three is long overdue and is
confident of reversing his fortunes next weekend.
In the run-up to the Snetterton race meeting, TCR will be continuing to
seek an answer from SEAT and Pirelli regarding the tyre concerns and as
team boss Lee Brookes points out, it would seem there have been two
batches of tyres in use throughout the season rather than just one.
“We’re not 100 per cent sure what is happening but it definitely looks
like something was wrong at Donington and we want to get to the bottom
of it”, he said, “It could well be the two guys at the front had found
something the rest of us didn’t for our set-ups but for them both to be
half a second quicker than anyone else in both races does seem odd.
“The thing which has concerned us is a different sticker which appeared
on some tyres supplied by Pirelli. The tyres are supposed to be
supplied randomly but none of our four drivers have ever received the
tyres with the sticker on.
“We’re not saying there is definitely a performance difference but if
the tyres have different stickers it would seem as though they come
from a different batch which is obviously wrong and that’s why we’re
pushing SEAT to investigate it.”
Jonathan will return to the track next Friday, 11th August, for
official pre-event testing at Snetterton with round 11 qualifying set
to follow at 12.00 on Saturday, 12th August, and round 12 qualifying
expected to get underway at 16.20.
Both races will take place on Sunday, 13th August, and will be covered
live on Motors TV, channel 413 of the Sky Digital platform and through
cable provider NTL on channel 173. Round 11 is scheduled to start at
09.30 with round 12 set to begin at 14.10.
2006 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship Provisional Driver Standings (after rounds 9&10)
| Pos. |
Driver |
Points |
| 1st |
Mat Jackson |
154 |
| 2nd |
Ben Winrow |
122 |
| 3rd |
Alan Blencowe |
115 |
| 7th |
Jonathan Fildes |
70 |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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