AT SNETTERTON

Hitech Racing increased its points haul with three more top ten results in the two races at Snetterton on Sunday. Both Walter Grubmüller and Max Chilton finished in the points in race two held in glorious sunshine.

For Austrian Grubmüller, his result came on the back of a top ten finish in the previous race earlier in the day. Meanwhile Chilton recovered from a poor start to finish just outside the points.

Race one had the pair line up 16th and 17th and at the lights, Walter made one of his now customary lightening getaways. Max however, failed to get away from the line well and was dead last at the end of the opening lap.

As Max worked his way up through the field, Walter was already up into 13th by the end of lap two and into 11th two laps later. By the midway point he was in a train of four cars battling for seventh place. But, on a track renowned for its difficulty to overtake, was unable to improve further.

At the flag, Walter had made up eight places and crossed the line ninth.  “It is quite hard to overtake here,” said Walter. “But I managed to make up quite a few places and in the closing stages of the race I was right in the battle for seventh.”

Team-mate Chilton steadily progressed over the opening few laps but had to settle for 13th at the flag. “I needed to reposition the car on the grid and as the lights went I stalled”, said Max. “After that I was quick for the first four laps and I caught everyone up but the car went off a bit and I couldn’t progress any further.”

Race two caused a fair amount of confusion for the pair and the rest of the 27-car grid. The red lights signalling the start of the race only briefly appeared before going out. For Max this didn’t prove a problem, but cost Walter a few places, which he made up before the completion of the first lap.

A superb drive by the pair allowed them run consistently in a six-car nose-to-tail battle for third place.  Over the closing laps Max and Walter had to push hard with the latter coming under pressure from Marcus Ericsson behind.

The pair looked likely to hold seventh and eighth to the flag. However on the penultimate lap Ericsson snatched eighth place from Walter.

“The start of race two was a complete mess,” said Walter. “And I lost a few places as a result.  I was able to get them back though by the second corner and then kept pushing hard until I caught up with Max. We were all held up though and I made a little mistake which allowed Marcus (Ericsson) through on the penultimate lap.”

“I don’t know what happened at the start of race two,” said Max. “The red light just went on then off very quickly and we all hesitated but I got away quite well. I made up a few places early on and after that it was quite a tough race because I kept trying to push the guys in front. The car was great and I’m happy to get some more points.”

Team Principal David Hayle was equally happy with the result, which has extended the Buckingham-based team’s points haul.  “After the qualifying positions we started from I think we did well to get three points finishes from a possible four.”

The 22-round series will resume in three weeks time with rounds 11 and 12 at the ultra-fast Thruxton circuit in Hampshire over the weekend of 28/29 June.

Results of round 9 – 28 laps

1. Michael Devaney Ultimate Motorsport Mygale M-08F3 Mercedes HWA 29:15.236

2. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 29:15.900

3. Brendon Hartley Carlin Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 29:17.236

4. Oliver Turvey Carlin Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 29:20.150

5. Sebastian Hohenthal Fortec Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 29:22.376

6. Marcus Ericsson Fortec Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 29:22.635

9. Walter Grubmüller Hitech Racing Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 29:37.770

13. Max Chilton Hitech Racing Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 30:03.494

Results of round 10 – 28 laps

1. Michael Devaney Ultimate Motorsport Mygale M-08F3 Mercedes HWA 29:22.758

2. Sebastian Hohenthal Fortec Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 29:24.235

3. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes HWS 29:25.810

4. Sergio Perez T-Sport Dallara F308 Mugen Honda 29:28.169

5. Oliver Turvey Carlin Motorsport Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 29:30.267

6. Atte Mustonen Raikkonen Robertson Racing Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 29:34.986

7. Max Chilton Hitech Racing Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 29:35.571

9. Walter Grubmüller Hitech Racing Dallara F308 Mercedes HWA 29:37.331

Championship points after Round 10

1 Jaime Alguersuari 99

2 Sergio Perez 98

3 Atte Mustonen 87

4 Sebastian Hohenthal 81

5 Oliver Turvey 75

6 Marcus Ericsson 64

7 Michael Devaney 63

8 Brendon Hartley 62

9 Max Chilton 54

11 Walter Grubmüller 25