Josh Mulholland (Randalstown, Northern Ireland) and Dino Zamparelli (Bristol) shared the wins during a rain-lashed final meeting of the 2009 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship on Sunday, 11th October, at Thruxton Circuit near Andover.

In the tight four-way battle for the coveted Vice-Champion’s position though, both lost out to Hillspeed’s Omani racer Ahmad Al Harthy (Hathersage, Derbyshire) who clinched the runner-up spot by just a single point thanks to a season’s best brace of second place finishes in rounds 12 and 13, coupled with the crucial bonus points for fastest lap in each encounter.

Steven Durrant (Oxford), meanwhile, overturned a 10-point deficit to chief Privateer Cup rival Andrew Jarman (Northampton) to take the 2009 class title in tremendous style with a career best fifth position overall in the last of the weekend’s races. Earlier, in-form Durrant had put Jarman under huge pressure with an equally impressive top six finish in round 12.

Recently crowned Protyre Formula Renault BARC Champion Kieren Clark (Royston, Cambridgeshire) was in attendance with his Apotex Scorpio Motorsport team but didn’t compete.

Mulholland secures second victory in as many races

During the combined qualifying session for the season finale, Mulholland secured pole position for both races with a stunning run during the dying minutes – laps of 1m 13.873s (114.81mph) and 1m 13.958s enabling the Alpine Motorsport racer to usurp Zamparelli from the top spot.

Prior to the start of round 12, the skies opened to make the already demanding 2.35-mile Hampshire speed-bowl even more of a challenge for the single-seater aces. From pole position, Mulholland got too much wheelspin and immediately slipped to fourth place as Antel Motorsport’s Brett Parris (Southampton) brilliantly surged into an early lead at his home track from fourth on the grid.

Into the complex for the first time, Parris led Reon Motorsport/MTECH driver Zamparelli, Al Harthy and Mulholland with James Theodore (Telford, Shropshire) in fifth ahead of Apotex Scorpio’s sole representative Joe Crook (Hailsham, East Sussex) in sixth. Towards the end of the lap though, Mulholland was right on the tail of Al Harthy and grabbed third place up the inside at Club Chicane.

He immediately set after Zamparelli and by the end of the second tour Mulholland had moved into second place as Al Harthy followed him through into third at the chicane. At this point, Parris’ lead was around 0.8 seconds but Mulholland’s charge was tempered when Al Harthy produced a superb move around the outside into Club to re-take second position.

While the top three battle heated-up, fourth placed Zamparelli began to fall into the clutches of Theodore with Crook an increasingly distant sixth. Mulholland grabbed second place again on lap four and as he started to get back on terms with the race leader, Parris suffered dreadful misfortune when an alternator problem forced him to slow before retiring to the pits at the end of the fifth tour.

Therefore, Mulholland assumed the lead from Al Harthy and Zamparelli with Theodore ever-present in fourth, Crook a lonely fifth and Privateer Cup runner Durrant a highly impressive sixth ahead of outstanding category debutant Luke Wright (Shaftesbury, Dorset) in seventh and David Sutton (Swinton, South Yorkshire) in eighth. The order remained unchanged the chequered flag on lap 12.

Speaking after the race, victor Mulholland said: “I really enjoyed it in those conditions, it was a lot like a kart race. I was a little bit worried about Ahmad towards the end as he was coming back to me but the closest he could get was at the complex – there was nowhere else he was close enough. It’s fantastic to take two wins on the bounce after winning at Rockingham last time out, I’m delighted.”

Zamparelli ends year on a high with third win of 2009

Round 13 started with the same top four as the earlier encounter, Mulholland on pole ahead of Zamparelli, Al Harthy and Parris. Once again, Mulholland was unable to make the most of his qualifying heroics as he fell behind Zamparelli but he did fend off Al Harthy for second through Allard until the Hillspeed driver managed to get ahead through the back section of the circuit.

The race leader, benefitting from clear vision as his rivals struggled with huge amounts of spray as rain continued to fall, quickly opened up a healthy advantage. Behind, Al Harthy held second – as Mulholland fell down the order into sixth after a contact-induced spin at the ultra-fast Goodwood corner – with Parris moving into third and Crook taking fourth ahead of privateer Durrant.

Into lap two, Zamparelli’s lead was already a huge 1.7 seconds and he increased his advantage to an incredible 9.3 seconds by the end of lap six as his pursuers appeared to have no answer to his sheer dominance. On the eighth tour though, Al Harthy started to hit back and after posting a couple of fastest laps he began to take chunks of time out of Zamparelli’s lead.

Over the course of the final four laps, Al Harthy continued to close at a rapid rate but Zamparelli was too far ahead and he took the win – the third of his maiden season in the category – by just under four seconds. Ironically Al Harthy, a driver from one of the hottest, most arid parts of the world, was in his element yet again in the difficult, wet conditions.

Taking second place and with it the fastest lap of 1m 20.132s (105.84mph), Al Harthy claimed the Vice-Champion’s position in the driver standings by one point from the round 13 race winner. Parris went someway to making amends for his race one disappointment with third place ahead of Crook in fourth and Durrant in fifth – the latter doing well to keep a very rapid Theodore at bay.

Series rookie Wright was highly impressive once again in seventh place ahead of Sutton in eighth, Archie Hamilton (Hook, Hampshire) in ninth and Jarman rounding out the top 10. Mulholland, meanwhile, failed to finish after a last-lap excursion while running in the top five.

Reflecting on his victory and the campaign as a whole, Zamparelli said: “I’ve learnt so much this season and to end the year with a win is perfect. Thanks to all the guys at MTECH who have done an amazing job all year, it’s great to have had so much success in my debut season. Hopefully I’ll be able to step-up to Formula Renault UK next year but we need to work very hard on the sponsorship side.”

Vice-Champion Al Harthy commented: “I’m really happy to have ended the year as Vice-Champion, it’s a big achievement for me and even more important as I had a lot of guests from Oman here. Every lap I could push and push, the car was amazing to drive and the team has done an incredible job for me. It’s my best set of results since I started racing, Thruxton is a very special circuit for me.”

Third placed Parris said: “Overall, I’m leaving Thruxton pretty disappointed really. After the first race we knew second in the championship was out of the question and although it’s good to be on the podium, to end the year without a win is gutting. The first race was the nail in the coffin for the championship, it was so disappointing to have the alternator problem while leading.”

Top privateer Durrant added: “It’s great to win the Privateer’s Cup as it was always the target for this season. It’s especially good for us with the team having never run this particular type of car before, they’ve done a superb job all season and I’d like to think I’ve done a good job getting the most out of the car. This gives me a good base to start from next year.”

Next on the calendar for Renault Sport UK’s championships will be the upcoming Winter Series which begins on Saturday, 31st October, at Snetterton in Norfolk and concludes a week later at Rockingham in Northamptonshire on Saturday, 7th November.