JUNIOR Strous (Wassenaar, Holland) had to beat pole-sitter Patrick Hogan (Killiney, Co. Dublin) off the line not once but twice in Sunday’s Formula Renault Winter Championship opener at Brands Hatch.
The 19-year-old Dutch Formula Renault vice-champion made a meteoric start and was ahead of Hogan before the first corner, but his good work was undone when red flags came out before the end of the first lap. The stoppage was caused after Markus Niemalä (Kelotie, Finland) stalled on the grid and Richard Keen (Amersham, Bucks) could not avoid the stranded Manor Motorsport car. Neither restarted the race.
Original grid positions were resumed and Strous managed to better his first effort, launching off the line into Paddock Hill Bend. After that Hogan kept him honest but the Dutchman says there was never any danger of losing the lead. “I was really enjoying it,” said the 19-year-old, who also clocked up fastest lap. “Starts are my thing. I just practice them in my head before a race. I imagine the lights, revving the engine up and dropping the clutch and my starts are always good.”
The leading pair opened a six second gap between them and the rest of the field and Hogan was consistently lapping faster than the AR Motorsport leader. “I’m a bit disappointed,” said the 21-year-old Fortec Motorsport driver. “The startline at Brands is in a little gully so getting a clean get away is always very difficult. Strous got two good starts and I got too much wheel spin. I’ve just got to do a better job.”
James Sutton (New Barnet, Herts) completed the podium – a first for the 19-year-old – despite starting sixth on the grid. “My first start was the best,” said the Fortec Motorsport driver. “I managed to pass three people going into Paddock Hill Bend before the race got red-flagged which was a great feeling. At the second start I passed Franky Cheng off the lights to lead him down into Paddock Hill Bend. After that I was pressuring Jeremy Metcalfe and he just made a slight mistake going into Druids. I managed to squeeze up the inside and force him into yielding the place.”
Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet, Hampshire) also put in his best performance in a Formula Renault to date, finishing fourth for his new outfit Team AKA. “My confidence is increasing the more I learn from my new team,” said the 17-year-old, who enjoyed many victories in karting but was unable to repeat the success in Formula Renault so far this year. “I came in with a lot of confidence from karting and this year didn't go as well as I expected. Since I’ve been testing with AKA I’ve realised I can be fast and now I just hope I can repay the team with a few wins.”
Provisional round one result:1. J. Strous: 34; 2. P. Hogan: 28; 3. J. Sutton: 25; 4. J. Metcalfe: 22; 5. D. Retera: 20; 6. W. Bratt: 18; 7. B. Ellis: 16; 8. C. Cheng: 14; 9. D. Stirling: 12; 10. J. Vasconcelo: 11.
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