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Rob Boston was certainly out to impress in his second weekend of racing at Rockingham |
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Wednesday, 23 April 2008 |
Free Practice
Friday Free Practice sessions brought very
changeable conditions. Again Rob adapted very well showing that although he is a
complete novice when it comes to car racing that he is capable of putting in
some seriously competitive times against drivers whom have a lot more
experience. Rob put in a great performance in both sessions, finishing 4th and
6th in the times leaving the team very positive for Qualifying on Saturday.
Qualifying
Saturday was set to be perfect conditions for
Qualifying with the sun beaming down on the Rockingham Circuit. However around
30 minutes before qualifying was due to starts dark clouds began to form around
the circuit. Feeling that the rain would come but only part way through the
session the team made the decision to get Rob down to the assembly as soon as
possible to allow him to set his fastest times at the beginning of the sessions.
The plan worked well and Rob lined up at the front of the queue followed by
Cannon and Rivett. 5 laps into the qualifying and the rain did come down heavy
and everyone had set the best lap that they could. No one was to go any faster
during the remaining time of the session. Rob only managed to hook up one fast
lap which left him in 13th position for race one with his 2nd fastest lap being
good enough for 19th in race 2.
Race One
After a fuel
irregularity was found in a competitors car Rob was moved up at 12th on the
grid. Starting from the outside of the pack was a different challenge to the
original plan and Rob had to work out how to get a great start. Lights went out
and Rob made a decent start and was in 12th place entering the 2nd corner
hairpin. Out braking many of his closest rivals Rob held on around the outside
and was on the inside for the 2nd corner picking up many places in the process.
In 6th place for many laps and with a big gap between himself and Cannon in 5th
Rob set about eating into the gap by setting some fast laps. Gradually closing
on Cannon lap by lap when entering the first hairpin he managed to lock up and
run wide. Dropping back into the clutches of Pattison but managing to just hang
on to 6th place Rob had all the work to do again. Lap by lap the gap came down
and on the last lap Rob put in a great move around the outside of Cannon to
steel 5th place and secure Double Six Racings best finish to
date.
Race Two
Starting in 18th position on the
outside of the pack again Rob prepared to do what he had done in the previous
race. Rob set off but lost a couple of places at the start then on the first
corner contact between Lanik, Osborne and Wood sent Wood spinning across the
track towards the outside were Boston collected him sending both into the
concrete wall. Both cars were very badly damaged but fortunately both drivers
walked away with relatively minor injuries.
The team are currently
working flat out to get the car repaired in time for the next meeting at
Donington Park.
Rob is now 10th in championship with Double Six Racing
9th in the team championship.
All in all a very mixed
weekend!
Marc Nelson, Team Manager comments, it's been a real mixture of
emotions this weekend Rob was fantastic, it is hard to believe that he is a
complete novice when it comes to car racing, the team are very proud of him.
Fifth in what is only his 3rd ever race was a massive achievement and we
certainly have our sights set on a podium finish. Obviously we are very
disappointed with the events that took place in the second race. Thankfully Rob
has emerged from the incident fairly unscathed and is raring to get back in the
car to continue his quest.
The team will be working hard for the next 2
weeks and we are confident that the No 66 Race Star car will be back on the grid
at Donington for Rounds 5 & 6 when hopefully Rob can continue to move up the
Championship leader board.
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