With crowds in excess of 30,000 filling the grandstands of the Silverstone National circuit, Staverton based driving ace Jack Dex was gearing up for the Protyre BARC Formula Renault season finale. Competing with newly formed race team SWB Motorsport, Jack was looking to secure his most competitive results to date after qualifying in 15th and 13th respectively.
Saturday afternoon saw race one of the weekend start slightly behind schedule due to an incident in the previous race, nonetheless, starting in 15th Jack worked his way through the pack by consistently lapping and closing in on the cars in front. An overall result of 10th gave Jack his season best finish and 11 crucial points to add to his championship bid. When asked to comment on the race Jack said; “I feel like I have been improving at every round this year and Silverstone was yet more evidence of that. It has been a steep learning curve, at Thruxton and now here we have shown we can compete in the top 10.”
Race two took place on Sunday afternoon and saw Jack starting from 13th on the grid. The Staverton driver made a great start from the lights and managed to keep right on the tail of the cars ahead. An early attempt at an overtake saw him have a coming together with another competitor which resulted in bent front wishbones. Although this didn’t bring Jack’s race to an end, it did seriously affect his pace and made controlling the car a nightmare. “It was a great result on Saturday and a great race, it was the closest I have been to the ultimate pace, it was a shame we couldn't match this today but I raced hard for every position. It was a shame to come together and bend the tracking so early on.”
Jack finished the Championship in 15th position and is now looking ahead to the winter period to rest and recuperate. When reflecting on the weekend, Dex commented; “I loved racing on the ToCA package. It was fantastic to race with such a big crowd and to be on live TV. I would like to thank all the guys from Midland Quarry Products, JD Excavations and Whilton Mill for coming to the event and supporting me and SWB Motorsport for providing them with superb hospitality as well as a faultless racing car for me.”
Now that the season has come to an end, Jack will undergo keyhole surgery on his ankle and once he has recovered testing will commence in preparation for the 2012 Championship in which he has already been tipped with a chance of winning.
