Brands Hatch Indy 21/22 Sept 2004

Official Race Report

Report:Renault Sport

Race 1

Manor Motorsport’s Paul Di Resta (Bathgate, West Lothian) took full control of the 15th round of the Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit today, taking his second win of the season in dominant style. Having got away cleanly from his NGK Laser Platinum Pole Position, Di Resta led Team Firstair’s Sean McIntosh through Paddock Hill Bend with Comtec Racing’s Westley Barber (Wimbish, Saffron Walden) getting the better of Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent) after the Fortec Motorsport driver seemed to have a very sluggish start. A four-car accident at Druids Hairpin, however - involving Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Rodolfo Gonzalez (Attleborough, Norfolk), Fortec team-mates Ben Freudenberg (Northampton) and Stuart Hall (Halstead, Essex) and Motaworld Racing’s Oliver Jarvis (Burwell, Cambridgeshire) - brought out the red flags. At the re-start, Di Resta got away well from the line while championship leader Conway seemed to be slow off the grid once more. The Fortec ace did manage to hold on to third position though, behind ‘Graduate Cup’ front-runner McIntosh and ahead of Barber. While race leader Di Resta began to pull away at the front, a strong battle developed behind Team JLR’s fifth-placed Stephen Simpson (Enfield, Middlesex) involving Motaworld’s Gustavo Sondermann (Rochester, Kent), Comtec’s Susie Stoddart (Northampton) and Fortec’s Charles Hollings (Norwood, West Yorkshire). Further down the order, meanwhile, Swedish ace Alex Storckenfeldt fought his way through the field with some excellent driving - especially considering the shoulder injury he’s carrying after a karting accident two weeks ago. The Mark Burdett Motorsport driver, who started a lowly 25th on the grid after car problems in qualifying, eventually crossed the line in 16th position to earn himself the ELF/Atol Driver of the Day award. Back at the front it was Di Resta who took the chequered flag on lap 22 by a comfortable margin of almost 1.5 seconds from McIntosh, the Canadian’s second podium of the season, while Conway extended his championship lead even further with third position. Barber crossed the line in fourth ahead of fifth-placed Simpson, Sondermann in sixth, Stoddart in seventh and eighth-placed finisher Hollings. Team JLR’s Daniel Clarke (Maidenhead, Berkshire) enjoyed a solid Formula Renault UK debut in ninth position with Team aka’s James Jakes (Cullingworth, West Yorkshire) rounding out the top 10. Commenting on his victory, a delighted Paul Di Resta said: “I hope to be able to keep this kind of performance up for the rest of the year. Both myself and the team have made steps forward recently and we’ve managed to make a few things gel together which is what we needed. It was hard at the start of the year but now the results we want are coming.” Sean McIntosh said: “I’m very happy to be on the podium again and once the first lap was over I knew it’d be hard to pass here at Brands Hatch even if I’d managed to get close enough to Paul (Di Resta) to make that happen. I’m very pleased with this result, the last time I was on the podium was during round seven, and hopefully we’ll continue to build the momentum and end the season very strongly.” Mike Conway, meanwhile, commented: “I knew I just had to try and finish in-front of Westley, which I did, and that gives me an extra edge on him again in the championship race. It’s not nice for me driving to pick up points as I always want to win, but as being things didn’t go quite right in qualifying it was the right decision to play a percentage game.”

Race 2

Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent) secured the 2004 Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin title at his home circuit, Brands Hatch, on Sunday afternoon - a remarkable achievement with four races still to run this year. The 21-year old Fortec Motorsport ace, whose fighting second position during the 16th round of the season means he becomes the first 2004 title winner from any of the TOCA Tour package’s six regular championships, follows in the footsteps of 2003 Formula Renault UK Champion Lewis Hamilton and is now eyeing a graduation to the British Formula 3 series. “This feels fantastic”, commented the newly crowned Formula Renault UK with Michelin Champion immediately after the race. “I had tears in my eyes during the last lap and to win the title here on my home circuit is unreal - it’s absolutely fantastic. “It’s been a real team effort as we’ve all put in so much hard work. I always go out there to win and if that’s not possible then we always strive to finish consistently which has been the case all year. I’m absolutely delighted to be crowned 2004 Champion - it’s amazing.” Having qualified in third position, Conway made a stunning start to pass Comtec Racing’s Westley Barber (Wimbish, Saffron Walden) - the only driver who could prevent the Fortec ace from sealing the championship at Brands Hatch - and assumed second position behind NGK Laser Platinum Pole Position man Paul Di Resta (Bathgate, West Lothian) into the first turn. The Manor Motorsport driver, as he did during the 15th round of the season earlier in the day, made a clean getaway from the line and always looked to be in control of the race. He eventually took the chequered flag on lap 24 to cap a dominant weekend with his third victory of the season and to also move to within 31 points of Barber in the driver standings. Taking into account the championship’s triple ‘drop-score’ ruling, however, Di Resta is just 17 points adrift of the Comtec ace, meaning the battle for the Vice-Champion’s position will be keenly contested when the series resumes at Snetterton, Norfolk, in a fortnight’s time. While Di Resta’s win never looked in doubt, Conway did push him all the way to the flag and crossed the line a mere 0.3 seconds behind the Manor driver, having run in an unchallenged second position throughout the race. Barber finished third while Team aka’s James Jakes (Cullingworth, West Yorkshire) came home the top ‘Graduate Cup’ runner in fourth. Team Firstair’s Sean McIntosh crossed the line three 10ths behind Jakes in fifth position with Motaworld Racing’s Oliver Jarvis (Burwell, Cambridgeshire) sixth, Fortec’s Charles Hollings (Norwood, West Yorkshire) seventh and Comtec’s Susie Stoddart (Northampton) rounding out the top eight. Speaking on a near-perfect weekend, Paul Di Resta said: “We couldn’t have asked for any better than the two wins this weekend, it was a great event for us and I’m hopeful we can carry this kind of performance through to the next round at Snetterton and then on to Donington Park for the final races of the season. “The team has been working very hard on the car and I’ve put a lot of work in myself, then the win at Knockhill a fortnight ago really helped us. It means we have a really positive outlook for the remaining races this year and I’m confident more wins are on the cards.” Third-placed Westley Barber, who now has a tough battle with Di Resta on his hands for the Vice-Champion’s position, reflected: “This is Comtec’s first year in Formula Renault UK and we knew it would be tough but we’ve given our best through the season to date and will continue to do so over the remaining races. “Congratulations to Mike for securing the championship, he’s done a good job this season. In the race I didn’t get a good start and unfortunately for me Mike got a cracking getaway which meant I’d be fighting an uphill battle. We’ll regroup now and aim to be on the top step of the podium at Snetterton.” Conway’s championship win came as a surprise to his Fortec Motorsport team boss, Richard Dutton, who hadn’t realised he could seal the title this weekend. Dutton commented: “I wasn’t quite sure if Mike could win the championship here at Brands Hatch but I’m delighted he has - he’s worked so hard for this and has been so focused. “Mike worked hard during the winter and his preparation for test days and at every race meeting has been second to none. I’m delighted for him and I’m really and truly over the moon for what he’s achieved. “A measure of the person Mike is was shown earlier after his team-mate Ben (Freudenberg) had crashed during the first race. Half an hour before we had to go out for the second race, Mike was helping to clean Ben’s car so it shows the kind of fabulous team effort we have at Fortec Motorsport. Everyone has worked incredibly hard and Mike certainly deserves this title.”

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