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Heavy snow greeted a capacity
grid of racers for round one of the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship,
which was won by German driver Johannes Seidlitz (Skegness). The Mark Burdett
Motorsport driver started on the front row and won a race shortened by two red
flags held in treacherous conditions at Brands Hatch Indy circuit on Easter
Monday, 24th March. Taro Motorsport’s Ash Davies (Conwy) was second
with Hillspeed’s Menasheh Idafar (Kensington, London) in
third.
Edward Heinzelmann (Royston),
in the Heuthsports of Royston entered car, won the Club Class race ahead of Muzz
Race’s Steven Durrant (Rayleigh) and privateer Fraser Smart (Kilsyth) with only
three Club Class cars classified in the final result.
Grey skies were present at the
Kent circuit throughout the event but produced the heaviest snow of the day just
as the single-seater cars were preparing to take to the grid. The consequence
was severely reduced visibility and extreme punishment for any deviation from
the racing line onto the slick painted kerbs or grass.
The start of the race saw
Apotex Scorpio Motorsport’s Ollie Hancock (Hook) make a clean getaway with
Davies passing Seidlitz for second place. Russell Racing’s Aaron Steele
(Rochester) stalled in third place on the grid causing delays to those cars
directly behind him.
Boulevard Team Racing’s Joshua
Brooks (Spilsby) spun exiting Graham Hill Bend on lap two and stopped on the
grass alongside Cooper Straight. On the following tour, Falcon Motorsport’s Andy
Flynn (Fradley) stopped on circuit in a similar place bringing a red flag to
stop the race with the grid for the restart taken from the current race
order.
While waiting for the restart,
two cars overheated on the grid causing further delays, HS Motorsport/Antel’s
Brett Parris (Southampton) being assessed a 10-second penalty after being
adjudged to have caused an aborted start. At the restart, Hancock was the driver
to be caught out by stalling on pole position to gift Seidlitz an easy lead
ahead of Davies and Idafar.
Lap two saw the German run wide
at Graham Hill Bend, sliding the car as he negotiated the kerb allowing Davies
to take the lead, while setting the fastest lap of the race at 58.259s
(74.06mph). Alpine Motorsport’s Isa Mohammed (Southampton) also spun on the exit
of Graham Hill Bend, with Hancock down in 18th place almost
collecting the Bahraini driver’s stricken car.
Meanwhile, Steele had made a
superb recovery to climb back up to fifth place, while Durrant was running
seventh overall in his 1997 Tatuus RC97 car ahead of the majority of FR2000
Class cars. His joy was short-lived, however, as the slightest tap pushed him
wide and into the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend on lap two, the teenager just
managing to keep going to claim his podium place as Heinzelmann took the
lead.
A change of lead in FR2000
Class came on lap four as Seidlitz saw a gap to the inside of Davies at McLaren
bend and took the race lead on the run out of Clearways. Just one lap later, a
spin for Club Class driver Steve Hanselman (Mayland), once again on the exit of
Graham Hill Bend, saw him come to a halt across the track forcing the Clerk of
the Course to once again deploy the red flag, together with the chequered flag,
to end the race.
Commenting on his victory
Johannes Seidlitz said: “I’ve never raced in conditions like that before. The
track was slippery enough with the snow and the truck racing earlier in the day
made it even more slippery. Although it was a short race it was a great battle
with Ash Davies for the lead and a fantastic way to start the
season.”
Second-placed Davies said: “To
get on the podium in the first race of the season is a great result, especially
given the circumstances of the race. After taking the lead it would have been
nice to hold on to it but Johannes made a good move and second place from ninth
on the grid is a good result.”
Third-placed Menasheh Idafar, a
British-born Bahraini national, said: “I’m very happy. This is my first podium
in the Formula Renault BARC Championship and for that to happen in the snow is
incredible for me. It was hard to see much but I just tried my best to keep
going.”
Club Class winner Edward
Heinzelmann said: “Visibility was virtually zero and to be honest I didn’t know
what position I was in. It was a case of trying to keep it on the track but
obviously I’m delighted to have got the win in my first race in the
Championship.”
Second-placed Steven Durrant
said: “It’s a bittersweet result for me because I had a great start and was on
course for the win. I got a tap from behind that pushed me into the gravel and I
was just about to stop as I reached the edge of the track and was able to
continue. In the end it’s not a bad result but I feel it could easily have been
better.”
Third-placed Fraser Smart said:
“The weather was that bad, I was just thinking about keeping the car and myself
in one piece because I’ve got work in the morning! You can’t keep your visor
down on your crash helmet because it mists up but with it open the snow came
pouring in. It’s much worse then racing in rain so I’m happy to get a podium
finish.”
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