8/27/2007

Lloyd Hits Back With Battling Victory At Brands Hatch

CF Racing’s Hywel Lloyd (Corwen) won round 10 of the 2007 Formula Renault BARC Championship on Bank Holiday Monday, 27th August but Alpine Motorsport’s Dean Stoneman (Southampton) still leads the drivers’ standings after a solid third place. Quantexe Racing’s Felix Fisher (Bridgwater) came second for his second podium in as many races at Brands Hatch Indy circuit.

Ian Pearson (Didcot) celebrated winning the Club Class title for a third successive time on Sunday by winning round 10 despite a spin at Paddock Hill Bend. His dad Bob Pearson (Didcot) took second place ahead of Muzz Race’s Adrian Dixon (Harpenden) after a race of attrition for the pre-2000 Formula Renault cars.

Starting from pole position for the second time this season, Eurotek Motorsport’s David McDonald (Ewell) lost out to fellow front row starter Lloyd on the run to the first corner. Worswick Engineering’s Rossi (Blackburn) was squeezed onto the grass but held on to third place under pressure from Stoneman. Fisher dropped two places to sixth as Falcon Motorsport’s Craig Copeland (Wimbourne) passed him at Graham Hill Bend.

Unfortunately, the red flag deployed as Middle East/Russell Racing’s Mohamed Al A’Ali (London) spun at Druids and with the car in a dangerous position the Clerk of the Course had no option but to halt the race.

On the restart, Rossi surged past McDonald into second place behind Lloyd, while in midfield, Hillspeed Racing’s Ahmad Al Harthy (Hathersage) ran wide at Druids to drop back from 11th on the grid. With the top four evenly spaced, Taro Motorsport’s Ash Davies (Conwy) gained a place at Paddock Hill Bend by passing Hillspeed’s Chris Dittmann (Tewkesbury).

However, as the race for second place in Club Class was hotting up between Roberto Tirone (Amberley), Fraser Smart (Kilsythe) and James Heffernan (London), the red flag was needed once again as Matthew Clark spun at Druids.

The third restart saw the race shortened to just eight laps, making the start crucial on the tight 1.20-mile circuit. Lloyd once again made a great start from pole position ahead of Rossi and McDonald, with Stoneman down in fifth after Fisher made a better start from the third row.

Lap one saw Tirone retire at Druids as he braked too late and found little grip on the outside line, but he was in a safe enough position for the race to continue. This moved Smart into second ahead of Heffernan, with Ian Pearson in a clear Club Class lead lying 13th overall.

On lap three, contact between Smart and Heffernan at Druids saw the latter retire with a broken nose cone, while Smart suffered a slow puncture that would eventually see him drop back to last place. Meanwhile, 3K’s Racing’s Kieren Clark (Tadlow) passed Falcon’s Sten Pentus (Faringdon) for 10th place and Eurotek’s Tom Mun (Market Harborough) passed Copeland for seventh.

In fifth place, Stoneman looked slightly quicker than Fisher but was unable to find a way past as the 19-year-old drove a solid race in fourth. Lloyd extended his lead to three-quarters of a second over Rossi but that was as big as the margin got as Rossi picked up speed to match the leader.

A spin on lap four for Ian Pearson briefly threatened to cost him his Club Class victory but despite visiting the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend, the triple champion was able to recover and stay just ahead of his dad Bob at Druids hairpin. Adrian Dixon secured third in Club Class on lap seven as Smart’s puncture took its toll.

Kieren Clark regained ninth place on lap seven with a neat overtaking manoeuvre to pass Dittmann, before drama on the final lap altered the lead positions. As Rossi moved wide in an attempt to out-drag Lloyd to the chequered flag, McDonald went to the inside with contact resulting as the pair raced through McLaren. McDonald was given a formal reprimand by the Clerk of the Course and had his race licence endorsed with two points.

As both Rossi and McDon