.. As Onidi Comes Of Age
Fortec Motorsport’s James Sutton (New Barnet, Herts) went quickest overall in the second official two-day Formula Renault UK with Michelin test at Snetterton on March 8th/9th. After persistent rain had hindered any chance of quick laps on Wednesday, the Briton clocked a time of 1min 07.957s, during a clear gap in the weather on Thursday, to head the standings for the first time in his Formula Renault UK career.
Irishman Patrick Hogan (Killiney, Co Dublin) was just 0.1s behind with a time of 1min 08.078s. Hogan’s Team Lemac AKA team-mate Sam Bird (Claygate, Surrey), making his debut in the series, was a further 0.03s back with a time of 1min 08.106. The track stayed damp for much of the day, but intermittent dry spells allowed the teams to use slick tyres for short periods of the session.
Fortec Motorsport’s Fabio Onidi (Northampton), celebrating his 18th birthday on Thursday, came of age in spectacular fashion in the morning session with the second fastest time of 1min 15.779s. The Italian was then seventh fastest in the afternoon, in 1min 08.697s, to comfortably lead the list of B4 Group Graduate Cup contenders ahead of Nexa Racing’s Daniel Roos (Sweden) and Robertshaw Racing’s Alex Williams (Newcastle-upon-Tyne).
Onidi, who has only two competitive outings in the Formula Renault UK Winter Championship behind him, said: “I really like this track and my feeling of the track and the car was very good. The car was very good from the start and the team managed to find the best set-up. The afternoon was bad because I couldn’t get past the traffic when the track was drying out. But I probably did a much better job than I expected to, so it was a real surprise.”
Team Lemac AKA’s Patrick Hogan had continued his timesheet-topping form of Wednesday into Thursday’s morning session, setting the fastest lap at 1min 15.505s in the tricky wet conditions. The chasing pack were more condensed than on Wednesday, with Onidi just 0.274s behind and series newcomer Markus Niemela (Finland) 0.492s adrift in third.
Irishman Hogan set the pace on a rain-drenched first day, clocking a 1min 15.801 in the morning session to head Jeremy Metcalfe by 0.417s and Sweden’s Sebastian Hohenthal by 0.598s. The rest of the field were more than a second down on the leader in the difficult conditions.
NB To be eligible for entry into the Graduate Cup a driver must be under the age of 19 on 1st March 2006. Drivers who have competed in more than two Formula Renault 2000 races before this season are ineligible to take part in the 2006 Graduate Cup.
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
