6/18/2007

Lloyd Extends Lead With Second Win Of The Season

Hywel Lloyd (Corwen) clinched his second victory of the 2007 Formula Renault BARC Championship in an action packed race at Oulton Park Island circuit on Saturday, 16th June, extending his lead at the top of the FR2000 Class drivers’ standings to six points. The CF Racing man finished ahead of Alpine Racing’s Dean Stoneman (Southampton) and Eurotek Motorsport’s David McDonald (Ewell).

Club Class series leader, Pearson Engineering Services’ Ian Pearson (Didcot), made it four wins out of four ahead of Mark Clutton Racing’s Marcus Clutton (Oldham) and Reon Motorsport’s Iain Morton (London). Adding one bonus point each for pole position and fastest lap, Pearson now leads the Club Class drivers’ standings by 20 points from Clutton.

There was drama right from the start of the race as a capacity grid of 30 cars took to the grid at the 2.26-mile Cheshire circuit. Double M Racing’s Aaron Steele (Chatham) was on pole position by just 0.007s from Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Ollie Hancock (Hook) after a qualifying session split in two by a red flag after a spin by Boulevard Team Racing’s Joshua Brooks.

Hancock made the better start to lead Steele through the first two corners ahead of Lloyd, while Stoneman also climbed two places from his eighth place grid slot. On the run to the hairpin on lap one, Hancock defended the inside line but Steele tried to squeeze past before bumping the leader into a spin. Steele retired from the race, while Hancock was forced to wait for a gap in the traffic before rejoining in 20th place.

By the end of the lap, Lloyd held a clear lead over Worswick Engineering’s Rossi (Blackburn) and Falcon Motorsport’s Sten Pentus (Oxford) who was up to third after starting ninth. Stoneman soon passed Pentus and then also overtook Rossi at the first corner, Old Hall, to lie second by the end of lap three, although almost five seconds adrift of Lloyd.

In Club Class, Pearson held a comfortable lead over Clutton having claimed pole position late in the session on a drying track. Running just outside the top 10 overall, Pearson enjoyed a battle with Mark Burdett Motorsport’s FR2000 Class duo Pierre Renom (London) and Denis Autier (London). Clutton was involved in his own tussle with the newer model Middle East/Russell Racing car of Menasheh Idafar (London), eventually losing out on lap six to the Bahraini driver.

On lap three, Renom passed both Pearson and Autier to take 12th place but would then retire on lap eight. Two retirements had already come on lap six in unrelated incidents. Falcon Motorspot’s Craig Copeland (Wimbourne) retired at Knickerbrook chicane, while Rossi encountered problems with his battery and was forced to pit.

Jigsaw Engineering’s Louis Hamilton-Smith (Stratford upon Avon) joined Hancock in having to fight his way back through the field after spinning out of fifth place at Deer Leap. Rejoining in 26th, the 23-year-old made his way up to a creditable 11th at the end.

By the midway stage of the 16-lap race, Stoneman had chipped away at Lloyd’s lead by almost half a second per lap and closed right onto his rear wing as the pair began to negotiate back markers. Lloyd fared better in the traffic, extending his lead over Stoneman back up to one second.

On lap nine, third-placed Pentus retired after running wide at Old Hall, promoting McDonald up to third having been down to 10th after a poor start. Hillspeed Racing’s Chris Dittmann (Tewkesbury) ended his race with a spin at the same corner to become the seventh retirement of the race.

The battle for the final Club Class podium place continued with Morton heading a chain of cars including Pearson Engineering Services’ Bob Pearson (Didcot), Muzz Race’s John Johnsen (Whitby) and JH Motorsport’s James Heffernan (London). Johnsen passed Pearson early in the race, only for Pearson to regain fourth place in class on the following lap. While racing closely among themselves, the group moved