NINE karting stars got their best taste of the car racing world this week when Renault Sport UK organised them to test its championship-winning cars at Croft.
Karting organisers singled out the youngsters who had most impressed during the 2005 season. Six tested Formula Renault single-seaters and three drove Clio Cup cars at Tuesday's event.
This year’s Formula Renault UK Champions Manor Motorsport provided the single-seaters and team manager, Tony Shaw, was extremely impressed with them. “They got to experience the whole thing from having a seat fitting, getting strapped into the car and being surrounded by all types of people like mechanics and engineers,” he said. “I bet they felt a lot of pressure but I think they’ve all been very professional. It’s a big step up but they’ve shown ability in karting and they’ve soaked up everything we’ve told them.“
Manor brought along former drivers Oliver Jarvis, who won this year’s championship, 1997 champion Marc Hynes who went on to beat Jenson Button to the British F3 title in 1999 and 1995 champion and Le Mans winner Guy Smith to help the youngsters make the most of their opportunity.
Jarvis said all six had coped very well with some fairly atrocious conditions at the North Yorks circuit. “Aquaplaning is a horrible feeling even for a driver with plenty of experience,” said the 21-year-old. “But for those drivers getting into the car for the first time it must have been scary. You can’t control it. You’ve just got to wait until it stops and deal with it then. These drivers all came here willing to learn and with enthusiasm and I was very impressed.”
Racing is in the family for 16-year-old Stefan Di Resta (Bathgate, West Lothian) whose brother Paul finished third in last year’s Formula Renault UK Championship and 10th in this year’s Formula 3 Euroseries. “I get a lot of constructive criticism which is really valuable,” said Di Resta jnr, who finished 10th in this year’s Renault Formula ICA Championship. “The Formula Renault was a big change from karting. The down force and vibrations made it harder to drive but it’s definitely more fun. A few years ago single-seaters wasn’t my plan but now I’d like to try it and Formula Renault one of the few classes where a good percentage actually move up into Formula One.”
Big brother Paul says the most important thing for Stefan is to enjoy the experience.
“It’s nice to see my brother following in my footsteps,” said the 19-year-old. “He’s just got to keep it on the track and see if he enjoys it because at this age that’s the most important thing.”
In Formula ICA Di Resta raced against Henry Arundel (Arundel, West Sussex), who came sixth and was also given a test in the Manor car. They were joined by Renault Formula A’s 9th-place Tiffany Chittenden (Chiselhurst, Kent), Chris Brown (Peterborough) who finished 13th, Jason Parrott (Crowland, Peterborough) who finished fourth and Riki Christodoulou (Sutton Coldfield) who was vice champion.
ELF Renault Clio Cup’s 2004 champions Boulevard Team Racing brought two cars as well as their double champion Paul Rivett: “These cars are not forgiving in the wet so the drivers did extremely well – none of them went off,” he said. “It’s the first time they’ve driven anything like this and they’ve got the hang of it straight away.”
Renault Formula ICA champion, Matthew Bell (Morpeth, Northumberland), said driving a Clio has made him think twice about his career. “I didn’t expect it to be as quick or as fun,” said the 15-year-old. “They just don’t look like they’ve got the acceleration that they do have. I’ve had a great day.
Bell’s brother Robert won this year’s Nurburgring 1,000kms, the fourth race of the Le Mans Endurance Series, in an Aston Martin DBR9: “He’s always followed me around with my mum and dad so he’s been at kart tracks himself since he was five or six,” said the 26-year-old, who won the Formula Renault Winter Series. “He didn’t need any encouragement from me but I’ve been with him all year and enjoyed it myself. I’ve made loads of mistakes through the years so if I can help him avoid a few of them I’ll be happy.”
Renault Formula ICA champion and vice-champion and Danny Cruttenden (Wilmington, Kent) said: ““It was massively different to karts. With the front wheel drive the handling is completely different. It was definitely very exciting. Boulevard has been fantastic. There were a few hairy moments when I mis-judged my breaking but nothing massive. Clio is definitely something I’d consider.”
Formula A winner Mark Litchfield (Rocester, Staffs) added: “The Clio feels quick and more stable than anything else. It’s a really fun car to drive.”
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