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Sun Fails To Shine On Metcalfe During Round 10 |
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Monday, 17 July 2006 |
AKA Lemac star Jeremy Metcalfe saw his championship ambitions dealt a minor blow during round 10 of the Formula Renault UK season at Croft this afternoon, frustratingly through no fault of his own.
The 18-year-old still did very well to finish in 11th position but he was unable to mount the kind of challenge he had hoped for from eighth on the grid having been forced to take avoiding action at the start of the race when French driver Franck Mailleux went slightly wide onto the grass.
In similarly hot conditions as those experienced during Saturday’s round nine, Jeremy initially got away well from the line but the mistake by Mailleux threw a cloud of dirt onto the track which, in turn, caused the Fleet teenager to understeer into the gravel.
The ensuing dust meant vision was severely impaired but Jeremy did extremely well to avoid any collisions as he rejoined the race, albeit several places further down the order in 15th position.
During the early stages the Hampshire ace managed to regain some lost ground and having moved into 14th position on lap three, he executed a good move on Duncan Tappy to take 13th place a lap later.
Jeremy then passed David Epton for 12th position on lap seven and following a short Safety Car period, enforced after two cars came together at the hairpin, he moved up into 11th place when Mailleux retired from the race in the pits.
Although not the sort of result he was looking for, the former championship leader is still happy to be in the top six in the title standings and determined to make his way back onto the podium during the next two races at Donington Park in a fortnight’s time.
“I’m disappointed to have finished in 11th place but there wasn’t a
great deal I could do about that after the problems at the start of the
race”, said Jeremy.
“After Mailleux went onto the grass, I under-steered off the track and
couldn’t see anything through the cloud of dust so I lost several
places. We did well to regain some positions during the first half of
the race and the car seemed fast enough early-on but it tailed off a
bit towards the end.
“This hasn’t been the weekend I wanted but fourth position yesterday
was a good result and I’m looking forward to Donington now which is a
completely different circuit and a track I’m confident we will be able
to mount a strong challenge at.”
Round 10 of the 2006 Formula Renault UK Championship, which was
broadcast live on Motors TV this afternoon, will be re-run in full on
Tuesday, 18th July, at 09.00. Motors TV is available via channel 413 of
the Sky Digital platform and through cable provider NTL on channel 173.
Formula Renault UK Championship Provisional Driver Standings (after rounds 9&10):
| Pos. |
Driver |
Points |
| 1st |
Patrick Hogan |
228 |
| 2nd |
Sebastian Hohenthal |
220 |
| 3rd |
James Sutton |
185 |
| 6th |
Jeremy Metcalfe |
174 |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 06 January 2007 )
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