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[Formula Renault UK] Hogan Leaves Thruxton On Top After Perfect Weekend |
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Monday, 05 June 2006 |
HOGAN LEAVES THRUXTON ON TOP AFTER PERFECT WEEKEND
Patrick Hogan (Killiney, Co Dublin) completed a perfect outing at Thruxton circuit in Hampshire winning both races to lead the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship by 19 points from AKA Lemac team-mate Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet, Hants). Sebastian Hohenthal (Northampton) also finished both races on the podium to move into third in the drivers’ standings.
The Irishman’s victory was not so dominant in round six but due to the battle for second place between Fortec Motorsport duo Hohenthal and Sam Bird (Claygate, Surrey), Hogan was able to maintain an advantage of around two seconds for the entire race. Fabio Onidi (Northampton) gained ground in the B4 Group Graduate Cup standings with an impressive eighth place, ahead of his team-mate James Sutton (New Barnet, Herts).
A first lap accident involving Manor Motorsport’s Joao Vasconcelos (Sheffield) and Comtec Racing’s Pippa Mann (Alderburgh, Suffolk) brought out the Safety Car for five laps, the Portuguese driver shaken but not seriously injured by the incident at Club chicane. At the restart, Hogan kept his cool to gain an advantage over Hohenthal and was unchallenged for the revised race distance of 17 laps.
In the battle for Graduate Cup points, a category for rookie drivers, Onidi moved into seventh place when Manor Motorsport’s Franck Mailleux ran wide on the run up Woodham Hill. Meanwhile, Graduate Cup leader Dean Smith (Wolverhampton) was able to keep his closest challenger Daniel Roos (Bishop’s Stortford) half a second at bay.
As Hogan maintained his lead of around one second, the closest battle on the 2.36-mile circuit was between team-mates Hohenthal and Bird for second place. On course for his first podium in Formula Renault UK, Bird made several passing attempts but each time the Swedish driver was able to keep ahead.
In fourth place, Scorpio Motorsport’s David Epton (Fleet, Hants) was able to take advantage of the battle ahead to gain ground and score his best finish since returning to the Championship at Oulton Park after a one-year absence. At his home circuit, Epton took 22 points for fourth place and climbed to 14th in the drivers’ standings.
Epton’s team-mate Will Bratt (Oxford), winner of round four at Oulton Park, lost ninth place to James Sutton, while Valle Makela (Sheffield) passed Onidi for seventh. Jamun Racing Services’ Duncan Tappy also made good progress in the latter stages of the race to finish 14th passing Peter Rees (Pangbourne, Berks), Daniel Roos and Markus Niemelä (Lincoln).
On the penultimate lap, Hogan’s victory looked assured as Hohenthal, Bird and Epton were covered by less than one second. Although Bird set the Fastest Lap of the race, Hohenthal was able to keep his nerve to defend second place and lead his team-mate across the line by just 0.384s.
Championship leader Jeremy Metcalfe dropped six places after a problem at the Complex on the first lap, but was able to gain two positions by the end of the race to finish 12th, his lowest finish of the season.
Meanwhile, the victor’s spoils went to Hogan for the second time in the day and the 21-year-old, now in his third full season of Formula Renault UK, paid tribute to his team after completing a superb weekend’s work. Hogan commented: “My goal at the start of the weekend was to leave here with the lead in the Championship and two wins makes it the perfect weekend for me.
“Once again AKA Lemac has done a great job with the car and every time I go out in testing or race conditions I know I have a great chance. There’s also been a big change in my attitude this season compared to last year and it’s starting to pay off with race wins.”
Hohenthal, 21, was also in buoyant mood after repeating his round five result of second place. He said: “Overall, it’s the best weekend I’ve had in Formula Renault UK because I’ve not managed to get two podiums in a row before. Compared to winning, it’s no fun coming second but hopefully we can fine tune the car a little more and go one place better in the next race at Knockhill.”
After securing his first Formula Renault UK podium, Sam Bird was also looking ahead to building on this success, saying: “It’s a very tough Championship but now I’ve got the speed, hopefully this can be the first podium of many. It was a great race with Sebastian and I’ve got a lot of respect for him as a driver so I didn’t want to do anything rash. But, third place is great and it’s good points for the Championship.”
Rounds seven and eight take place in two weeks’ time at the Renault Race Day at Knockhill circuit in Scotland on Sunday, 18th June.
Drivers’ Championship standings after Round Six - provisional
| Pos. | Driver | Nat. | Team | Points | | 1 | Patrick Hogan | IRL | AKA Lemac | 151 pts | | 2 | Jeremy Metcalfe | GBR | AKA Lemac | 132 pts | | 3 | Sebastian Hohenthal | SWE | Fortec Motorsport | 125 pts | | 4 | James Sutton | GBR | Fortec Motorsport | 121 pts | | 5 | Cheng Cong Fu | CHN | Manor Motorsport | 95 pts | | 6 | Will Bratt | GBR | Scorpio Motorsport | 94 pts | | 7 | Richard Keen | GBR | Position 1 Racing | 91 pts | | 8 | Sam Bird | GBR | Fortec Motorsport | 88 pts | | 9 | Valle Makela | FIN | Manor Motorsport | 80 pts | | 10 | Josh Fisher | GBR | Coles Racing | 64 pts | | B4 Group Graduate Cup standings after Round Six - provisional | | 1 | Dean Smith | GBR | Coles Racing | 55 pts | | 2 | Daniel Roos | SWE | Nexa Racing | 46 pts | | 3 | Fabio Onidi | ITA | Fortec Motorsport | 28 pts |
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