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British-born Bahraini Menasheh Idafar heads into rounds eight and nine of
the Formula Renault BARC season at Snetterton Circuit tomorrow, Saturday, 9th
August, in confident mood after a very competitive run during unofficially timed
testing this afternoon.
Taking part in three 30-minute sessions set aside for the championship
competitors, the 17-year-old Hillspeed racer produced a best lap time of 1m 08.2
seconds which placed him two or three 10ths of a second ahead of almost all of
his rivals.
One driver did produce a quicker time but the common thought around the
paddock – especially taking into account the straight-line speed difference – is
the car in question wasn’t using the official Formula Renault BARC
specification. Of course, these settings must be in place during qualifying and
both races at the Norfolk venue tomorrow.
Menasheh concluded today’s running rightly confident his own pace will
enable him to qualify high up the order during Saturday’s sole 20-minute session
and will also offer the opportunity to challenge for two strong finishes during
both Snetterton encounters.
Speaking after the test, the Gulf Computer Services, Gulfol and Ortolan
backed driver said: “It’s been a very good day for us, we had good speed and I’m
happy with the lap times we achieved compared to our main championship rivals.
It’ll be busy tomorrow with qualifying and two races but I’m really looking
forward to it.”
Hillspeed’s driver coach, British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star
Matt Shawyer added: “Menasheh did a good job today, his best lap was about two
or three 10ths of a second faster than most people so we’re happy we’re in good
shape for tomorrow. We’re not sure what the weather will do but, whatever
happens, we’re feeling positive.”
Rounds eight and nine of the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship will
take place tomorrow, Saturday, 9th August, at Snetterton Circuit. The grid for
both races will be determined by just one 20-minute qualifying session which
will start at 09.25. Round eight will follow at around 12.00 with round nine set
to begin at 15.30.
Provisional 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship Standings (after
Rd7):
1st Ollie Hancock, 87pts; 2nd Johannes Seidlitz, 53pts;
=3rd Menasheh Idafar & Isa Yousif Mohammed,
48pts
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