Oulton Park 22/23 May 2004

Official Race Report

Report:Renault Sport

Race 1

Canadian star Sean McIntosh kept a cool head during round seven of the 2004 Formula Renault UK Championship at Oulton Park Island Circuit this afternoon to record his first ever victory and, in turn, become the first Graduate Cup runner to win a race outright. The Team Firstair ace, who qualified in fourth position, was one of several drivers involved in a first-lap, first-corner incident but managed to retake his place on the grid for the re-start and got a superb getaway at the lights to lead through Old Hall Corner. Fortec Motorsport’s Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent) slotted into second position ahead of team-mate Stuart Hall (Halstead, Essex) in third, Comtec Racing’s Susie Stoddart (Northampton) in fourth and her team-mate, pole-sitter Westley Barber (Wimbish, Saffron Walden), in fifth position. By the end of lap three, McIntosh had built a lead of 1.3 seconds over Conway who was struggling with a damaged front wing but managing to keep fellow Fortec driver Hall behind him. Further down the order, meanwhile, Manor Motorsport’s Paul Di Resta (Bathgate, West Lothian) produced a spirited drive to come from the rear of the field - having dropped down the order on lap one - to finish in ninth position. At the end of the 10-lap race, McIntosh crossed the line just over four seconds clear of Conway with Stuart Hall taking an excellent debut podium in third place. Stoddart finished fourth ahead of Team JLR’s Stephen Simpson (Enfield, Middlesex) in fifth and Motaworld Racing’s Joey Foster (Truro, Cornwall) in sixth position. Fortec’s American driver Ben Freudenberg enjoyed his best result of the season in seventh while Falcon Motorsport’s Mexican star Carlos Mastretta did likewise with 10th place. Speaking on his maiden Formula Renault UK victory, McIntosh said: “I started fourth on the grid and had a really good start the second time around. I like Oulton Park a lot and had a good test when we came here so we were confident. The car is working really well and the Firstair guys are doing a great job. The first start was pretty hairy and I went off actually so I was happy to see the race re-started and delighted I got my first win.” Championship leader Conway added: “I had to drive the race with half of my front wing intact after an incident at the first corner so it was a pretty tough race. Through the slow and mid-speed corners the car was fine but through the high-speed turns I had to cope with lots of understeer. I could see Stuart behind me but didn’t see Westley so I was happy to collect the points for second place.” Commenting on his debut podium, Stuart Hall said “Susie was close behind me but I just focused on Mike ahead. I saw he had an ill-handling car but there was no point in attempting a stupid move and taking us both out of the race. If an opportunity had come my way I would have tried to pass but the end result means good points for both of us and the team.”

Race 2

Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent) settled for a comfortable second place in round eight of the Formula Renault UK Championship at Oulton Park Island Circuit this afternoon to preserve his commanding lead in the driver standings. The Fortec Motorsport driver started the race from NGK Laser Platinum Pole Position but it was Comtec Racing’s Westley Barber (Wimbish, Saffron Walden) who got the best start from second on the grid to lead through Old Hall Corner. Team Firstair’s Sean McIntosh, winner of Saturday’s seventh round and runaway leader in the Graduate Cup, maintained third position at the start ahead of Charles Hollings (Norwood, West Yorkshire) but towards the end of the opening lap, the Fortec driver moved into third place after a great pass at Lodge Corner. McIntosh then began to slip away with Manor Motorsport’s Paul Di Resta (Bathgate, West Lothian) taking fourth position from the Canadian on lap two. On lap three, however, McIntosh’s race came to an abrupt end after Motaworld Racing’s Joey Foster (Truro, Cornwall) misjudged an overtaking move on team-mate Oliver Jarvis (Burwell, Cambridgeshire) which resulted in a collision with the Graduate Cup runner. At the front, Barber continued to lead from Conway with Hollings in third place, Jarvis now up to fourth and Di Resta in fifth ahead of Comtec’s Susie Stoddart (Northampton) - the latter doing very well to hold on to sixth place as her car had a damaged rear wing. Even though over the remaining laps Conway closed Barber’s lead to just 10ths of a second, the Fortec driver refused to make any rash overtaking manoeuvres and at the chequered flag it was Barber who took his third win of the season with Conway in second and Hollings on the podium for the second time this season in third position. Jarvis finished in fourth place, his best result this year, with Di Resta fifth and Stoddart just managing to hold on to sixth position at the line after a spirited challenge from Fortec’s Stuart Hall (Halstead, Essex). Manor’s Chinese star Cheng Congfu (Cottingham, Hull) took easily his best result of the season after finishing in eighth place. Paston Racing’s Craig Dolby (Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire), meanwhile, was the top Graduate Cup driver in 16th place. Speaking on his win Barber said: “After all the problems we had on Saturday I couldn’t have asked for a better day. The team prepared the car well and it was mega to drive. Yesterday was very confusing but I’m just glad we got the result we did today. Well done to Mike for challenging me so hard but I’m very happy we managed to hold on for the win.” Conway, who now leads the standings by 73 points from Barber, commented: “I made a bad start and Westley got in front of me but I wasn’t too bothered about taking the win today as long as we could bring home some good points which we did. I set the fastest lap too which is obviously very good for the championship. I was pretty close to passing Westley on the last lap but I didn’t want to try anything stupid.” A delighted Hollings added: “I managed to pass Sean (McIntosh) on the first lap but after that I was third all the way to the flag. I would say it was quite easy but it’s never easy at Oulton Park - the tyres started to lose grip today due to the heat and the last few laps were quite difficult with the car sliding around quite a lot. I’m very pleased to be on the podium again.”

See Qualifying Times for this event here

Check the dates of all the races in the 2004 season here

Read Official Race Report of this event here

Go to home page for 2004 Season here

See latest Championship standings here

Check the dates of all the races in the 2004 season here