Leading drivers from Renault-sponsored Super One Karting Championships had a taste of what it would be like if their career dreams came true during a behind the scenes day with Renault F1 Team at Silverstone on Wednesday
Formula A Championship leader Jason Parrott (Crowland, Peterborough); ICA leader Matthew Bell (Morpeth) and JICA leading driver Lee Bell (High Wycombe), met Renault F1 Team driver Fernando Alonso, who currently leads the Formula One World Championship with four Grand Prix victories so far this year.
Along with a select group of leading drivers from Renault’s UK motor racing championships, some of whom may become Formula One drivers of the future, the karters toured the paddock and Renault F1 Team garage, taking a close look at the R25 cars in preparation for testing.
They also met former Formula Renault racer Heikki Kovalainen, one of five drivers in the Renault Driver Development programme, and the Renault F1 Team’s second test driver. Heikki travelled to the Northampton Grand Prix circuit for testing duties after taking the lead in the GP2 championship, considered the final stepping-stone before Formula One.
Working at the test day was Formula Renault driver Jason Tahinci (Frampton Cotterell, Bristol) who is a test engineer for the Renault F1 Team. He spoke to the karters about technical features of the R25 car and how hundreds of different pieces of information about every part of the car are gathered and analysed during a test.
Jason Parrott said: “It was great to see behind the scenes of how an F1 test works, and see the cars with the bodywork off. It was great to be invited. Coming to the test day makes you want to get to F1 even more, but makes you realise how hard you need to work for it.”
Matthew Bell: “It was good to see the inner workings of the car. I was amazed at how small the engine was. I was impressed by the amount of support there was for two cars, and what a large part all the different technical elements play. I was very pleased to have the opportunity to go to the test.”
Lee Bell attended during study leave for his GCSE exams. He said: “Everyone who races would like to drive in F1. The test really intrigued me, I’d love to be a part of an F1 team in some way and if I can’t drive an F1 car, I’d certainly like to drive a racing car like a Formula Renault or GP2.”
The karters will be defending their championship leads when the B4 Group Super One National Kart Championships travel to Larkhall in Scotland on June 19th.
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