World karting champion Oliver Oakes (Hopton, Norfolk) has chosen the Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin winter series to launch his car racing career.
The 17-year-old, who has been nominated for this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year, jumped straight into a Team AKA car just days after winning the Formula A World Karting Championship in Portugal.
“There’s quite a lot of expectation on me but I just want to get a feel for things,” he said. “The hardest thing to grasp has been braking distances but there are plenty of things which relate between karting and single-seaters – like getting a feel for the car. Karting has provided me with a good grounding but I’ve won all I can win so it’s time to move on. Formula Renault has always been a good starting place. I’m not really worried about anyone in particular but I know I’ll be racing against drivers with a lot more experience.”
One of those will be Manor Motorsport’s Richard Keen (Amersham, Bucks) who won this year’s Graduate Cup. “Getting that first title under my belt has been a real boost,” said the 19-year-old. “Now a lot of the championship’s drivers have moved on so I’m one of the most experienced on the grid - that has to give me an advantage. But I’m not complacent. There’s some real talent signing up for this year’s winter races and I’ll definitely be stretched to the limit.”
This year’s winter series has produced substantial interest from abroad, with half the entrants travelling from as far away as China. A.R. Motorsport is bringing three drivers from Holland including Formula Ford champion Dennis Retera, Dutch Formula Renault champion Mervyn Kool and Junior Strous who came seventh in this year’s Formula Renault Eurocup. “We’re definitely in with a chance of winning,” said A.R.’s manager Ron Heiligers. “Two of our drivers have had quite a lot of experience in the car so we’re very confident but I’m mostly treating it as good practice.”
One to watch is Alex Morgan (Porthcawl, Wales), who last year stunned the Formula Renault BARC Championship by winning his first-ever race in a car. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” said the 18-year-old, who races for Macob Motorsport. “I learnt a lot about defending, qualifying and all the other things that are different from karts. I think I’ve done a good job and next season I’ll be going for the Graduate Cup.”
Another driver who could upset the form book is Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet, Hampshire), who enjoyed a meteoric career in karting but could not find the same form in this year’s Formula Renault UK Championship. The 17-year-old has now moved to Leicestershire-based Team AKA and says he has seen a dramatic improvement in testing. “Things have gone brilliantly,” He said. “We’ve completed more than 2,000 miles in testing since the end of the season which has renewed my confidence and I’m very excited about my chances. I’ve really been enjoying myself in testing and I’m hopeful a good showing next weekend will be the start of very good things for our partnership with AKA.”
2005 Winter Series EntrantsFortec Motorsport : Fabio Onidi, (Milan, Italy), Bradley Ellis (Croydon, Surrey), James Sutton (New Barnet, Herts)
Manor Motorsport: Cheng CongFu (Oxford), Markus Niemela (Kelotie, Finland), Richard Keen (Amersham, Bucks), Joao Vasconcelos (Portugal)
Team AKA: Oliver Oakes (Hopton, Norfolk), Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet, Hampshire)
Nasamax: Dean Stirling (Guildford, Surrey)
Motaworld Racing: Duarte Felix da Costa (Torre Cascais, Portugal)
Scorpio Motorsport: Will Bratt (Banbury, Oxon)
Macob Motorsport: Alex Morgan (Porthcawl, Wales)
AR Motorsport: Junior Strous (Wassenaar, Holland), Dennis Retera (Holland), Mervyn Kool (Oud Beyerland, Holland)
For all the latest Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin news visit the official Renault Sport UK website www.renaultsport.co.uk built by Racecar
Full result times available at msttiming.com
