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Hogan Hits Back With Round Ten Victory At Croft |
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Monday, 17 July 2006 |
Patrick Hogan (Killiney, Co Dublin) made up for the disappointment of a point-less round nine by winning round 10 of the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship at Croft on Sunday, 16th July. The AKA Lemac driver led from pole position and held off the challenge of Sebastian Hohenthal (Northampton) to win by 0.815s.
Manor Motorsport’s Cheng Cong Fu (Oxford) finished third in scorching conditions, his second podium in the last three races. Hogan now leads the Championship by eight points from Hohenthal at the halfway stage of the 20-round season.
In the B4 Group Graduate Cup, Fortec Motorsport’s Fabio Onidi (Northampton) became the first driver to pass the 100-point mark, his eighth place giving him a total of 101. Coles Racing’s Dean Smith (Wolverhampton) failed to finish after crashing on the first lap but stays ahead of Nexa Racing’s Daniel Roos (Bishop’s Stortford) who finished 14th.
Following Hogan’s spin in round nine, the Irishman was determined to make amends as he started from pole position for the third time this season. A good start kept him ahead of Hohenthal at the first corner and although he could not open a significant gap, Hohenthal was too far back to attempt a passing move.
Just behind, Scorpio Motorsport’s Will Bratt (Banbury, Oxon) passed Richard Keen (Amersham, Bucks) for fourth place after the Position 1 Racing driver ran wide at the chicane. Round nine winner Sam Bird (Claygate, Surrey) looked to follow Bratt through but Keen recovered well to block the inside line at Tower Bend.
Hohenthal kept the pressure on Hogan by setting two successive fastest laps but still the Championship leader kept his cool, before the Safety Car was deployed following a coming together between Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Stian Sørlie (Lincoln) and Manor Motorsport’s Joao Vasconcelos (Sheffield) at the Hairpin.
During the Safety Car period, Vasconcelos’ team-mate Franck Mailleux
retired due to illness having set the fastest lap of the race to that
point. At the restart, Hogan was able to extend his lead over Hohenthal
to almost one second, while Fortec Motorsport’s James Sutton (New
Barnet, Herts) showed his greater experience to pass Onidi for eighth
place at the Hairpin.
Sutton would go on to win the ELF/Atol Driver of the Day award for
finishing seventh, having qualified 14th, after passing Coles Racing’s
Josh Fisher, who suffered a damaged nosecone after a failed overtaking
attempt on Sam Bird.
Further back in the field, Macob Motorsport’s Tiffany Chittenden
(Chislehurst, Kent) just failed to score her first point, in only her
second race, by finishing 21st. She passed fellow debutant, Sywell
Leisure Sports’ Jodie Hemming (Northampton), who retired on lap 14, but
could not catch Russell Racing’s Matt Russell (Harlesden).
The closest battle continued to be for fourth place with Bratt holding
the edge while fifth-placed Keen held off the attentions of Bird. At
the head of the field, Hohenthal set the fastest lap of the race to bag
a potentially crucial two bonus points and close to within one second
of the leader but Hogan held on comfortably to claim his fourth win of
the season.
Commenting on the victory, Hogan said: “It was important to bounce back
after a nightmare day yesterday. I said overnight a true champion would
come out and win today and that’s what I’ve done so I’m very happy.
We’re moving forward again and even though my Championship lead has
come down I’m still out in front.”
Second-placed Hohenthal said: “This weekend has been very good for me
in terms of the Championship with two second places. The track was
quite slippery today but I managed to keep up with Paddy until the
Safety Car came out. After that I couldn’t stay with him for some
reason but I’m pleased overall.”
For Cheng it was a second visit to the podium in three races and the
Chinese was delighted to stay in the Championship race, saying: “My
race was similar to Sebastian’s because I lost some speed after the
Safety Car. I almost had a couple of opportunities to pass him when he
was putting pressure on Hogan but I didn’t make it through. It’s still
good for the Championship and hopefully I’ll improve in the second half
of the season.”
Following Vasconcelos and Sørlie’s collision, both drivers were
penalised for a brief scuffle. Sørlie receives a £250 fine and a
three-point penalty on his licence. Vasconcelos receives a £500 fine, a
three-point penalty on his licence and a 30-day ban, ruling him out of
rounds 11 and 12 at Donington Park and rounds 13 and 14 at Snetterton.
Rounds 11 and 12 take place on the Donington Park National circuit on Sunday 30th July.
Drivers’ Championship standings after Round 10 - provisional
| Pos. |
Driver |
Nationality |
Team |
Points |
| 1 |
Patrick Hogan |
IRL |
AKA Lemac |
228 |
| 2 |
Sebastian Hohenthal |
SWE |
Fortec Motorsport |
220 |
| 3 |
James Sutton |
GBR |
Fortec Motorsport |
185 |
| 4 |
Sam Bird |
GBR |
Fortec Motorsport |
183 |
| 5 |
Cheng Cong Fu |
CHN |
Manor Motorsport |
182 |
| 6 |
Jeremy Metcalfe |
GBR |
AKA Lemac |
174 |
| 7 |
Will Bratt |
GBR |
Scorpio Motorsport |
152 |
| 8 |
Richard Keen |
GBR |
Position 1 Racing |
137 |
| 9 |
Valle Makela |
FIN |
Manor Motorsport |
132 |
| 10 |
Markus Niemelä |
SWE |
Mark Burdett Motorsport |
121 |
| B4 Group Graduate Cup |
| 1 |
Fabio Onidi |
ITA |
Fortec Motorsport |
101 |
| 2 |
Dean Smith |
GBR |
Coles Racing |
89 |
| 3 |
Daniel Roos |
SWE |
Nexa Racing |
70 |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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