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Title Race Hots Up As Hohenthal Completes Donington Double |
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Monday, 31 July 2006 |
Fortec Motorsport’s Sebastian Hohenthal (Northampton) completed a perfect weekend at Donington Park National circuit by winning round 12 of the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship on Sunday, 30th July. Hohenthal is now just two points behind Championship leader Patrick Hogan (Killiney, Co Dublin) who once again had to settle for second place, but who claimed a potentially crucial two bonus points for setting the Fastest Lap of the race with a mark of 1min 07.245s (104.78mph).
The start of the race was marred by an accident involving Fortec Motorsport’s Sam Bird (Claygate, Surrey) who hit the tyre wall heavily at the entrance to Craner Curves after contact from behind from AKA Lemac’s Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet, Hants). Bird suffered an injured knee in the impact at more than 100mph, but is hopeful of returning to racing at the next race meeting at Snetterton in two weeks’ time.
After a four-lap spell behind the Safety Car, the race distance was extended from 16 laps to 19 laps. Hohenthal made a good restart to lead from Hogan and Manor Motorsport’s Cheng Cong Fu (Oxford), with Scorpio Motorsport’s Will Bratt (Banbury, Oxon) putting the Chinese driver under pressure immediately.
Just behind Bratt, Coles Racing’s Josh Fisher’s (Bridgwater) race came to an early finish as he skidded off and into the safety barrier at the Old Hairpin on lap six. On the following lap, Bratt made his move on the inside of Cheng after carrying great momentum through Coppice corner, adroitly moving down the inside into Park Chicane to claim third place.
Manor Motorsport’s Franck Mailleux (Hull) and Fortec’s James Sutton (New Barnet, Herts) were also in the top-six battle, while just behind, Bratt’s Scorpio team-mate David Epton (Fleet, Hants) had risen to seventh place after qualifying in 12th.
Coles Racing’s Dean Smith (Wolverhampton) once again led the B4 Group Graduate Cup race, the 18-year-old finishing in ninth place with Alex Morgan (Porthcawl) coming second in the class for rookie drivers in 15th place. His Macob Motorsport team-mate Tiffany Chittenden (Chislehurst, Kent) scored her first Formula Renault UK points in just her fourth race, finishing in 18th place.
With Hohenthal and Hogan proving once again to be the class of the field at the 1.96-mile circuit, the pair managed to open a comfortable gap of more than three seconds over third-placed Bratt. Meanwhile, Metcalfe was attempting to recover the ground he lost on the first lap, passing Position 1 Racing’s Richard Keen (Amersham, Bucks) at Redgate for eighth place before Keen fought back well to re-take the place later in the lap.
Metcalfe challenged again into the first corner at Redgate one lap later and this time made the move stick. There was also a change for sixth place as Epton produced a strong finish to his weekend with a superb pass on Fortec Motorsport’s James Sutton.
Epton initially challenged at Redgate corner but after failing to complete the pass, he stayed alongside Sutton through the approach to Craner Curves. Superb driving and great respect between the two drivers meant they battled side by side for most of the lap, Epton eventually completing the pass at Coppice, some 30 seconds after his initial move.
There was still time for drama on the last lap as Metcalfe looked to follow Epton’s lead in passing Sutton but despite two attempts, the 18-year-old was unable gain the place. His second attempt saw both he and Sutton run wide, allowing Richard Keen to pass both of them to move into seventh place.
Unlike the day’s first race, Hohenthal was able to continue to extend his lead until the chequered flag, winning by 1.556s from Hogan, with Bratt a further 6.558s adrift. Hohenthal’s double win also made up for his visit to the circuit in 2005 when he had again secured pole position for both races but finished third and fourth.
Commenting on a perfect day, Hohenthal said: “I had some unfinished business from last season to win from pole
position and it feels great to do it. I didn’t tell anyone but I kept
repeating in my head ‘don’t throw it away like last time’. This win
felt easier than the first but the pressure was still on every lap and
it feels even better to win when you have been under pressure.”
Championship leader Hogan commented: “I still have the lead in the
Championship and when you consider the two dropped scores to come, my
lead is even bigger so I’m happy. You’re never going to have 20 good
races in a season but Sebastian is having a few at the moment. Their
car was strong in the early part of the race and I couldn’t push the
tyres too much on my car but I’m happy with the result of the weekend
overall.”
For Bratt, it was his first appearance on the podium since his win in
round four at Oulton Park in May, and he added: “This is definitely a
result I can take forward to Snetterton and I went quick in testing
there so hopefully I can do well. Today I was the second quickest on
the first lap so the pace is in the car. Maybe we need to work on the
set-up or I need to work on my driving to make sure I’m here on the
podium more often.”
After the race, AKA Lemac’s Jeremy Metcalfe was excluded from the race
result by the Clerk of the Course for his part in Sam Bird’s accident,
a decision upheld by MSA Stewards after an appeal by the team.
Rounds 13 and 14 take place at Snetterton circuit in Norfolk on 12th/13th August.
Drivers’ Championship standings after Round 12 - provisional
| Pos. |
Driver |
Nationality |
Team |
Points |
| 1 |
Patrick Hogan |
IRL |
AKA Lemac |
286 |
| 2 |
Sebastian Hohenthal |
SWE |
Fortec Motorsport |
284 |
| 3 |
Cheng Cong Fu |
CHN |
Manor Motorsport |
229 |
| 4 |
James Sutton |
GBR |
Fortec Motorsport |
219 |
| 5 |
Jeremy Metcalfe |
GBR |
AKA Lemac |
196 |
| 6 |
Sam Bird |
GBR |
Fortec Motorsport |
187 |
| 7 |
Will Bratt |
GBR |
Scorpio Motorsport |
183 |
| 8 |
Richard Keen |
GBR |
Position 1 Racing |
160 |
| 9 |
Valle Makela |
FIN |
Manor Motorsport |
148 |
| 10 |
Markus Niemelä |
FIN |
Mark Burdett Motorsport |
144 |
B4 Group Graduate Cup
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| 1 |
Dean Smith |
GBR |
Coles Racing |
119 |
| 2 |
Fabio Onidi |
ITA |
Fortec Motorsport |
110 |
| 3 |
Daniel Roos |
SWE |
Nexa Racing |
81 |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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