Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship race-winner Josh Mulholland added a second victory to his 2009 tally at a wet Thruxton in Hampshire on Sunday, 11th October, to conclude his debut car racing season a highly creditable fourth overall in the driver standings.
Having claimed his maiden success during the previous event at Rockingham five weeks ago, the 20-year-old Northern Irishman headed into the Formula Renault BARC season finale as one of four drivers in with a chance of claiming the coveted Vice-Champion’s position. In the end he just missed out by a mere 10 points, largely due to unfortunate contact on lap one of race two.
During the 20-minute qualifying session on Sunday morning, which took place in dry conditions, Josh was the class of the field as he scorched to a career-best double pole-position with two outstanding final laps – one of 1m13.873 seconds (114.81mph) and the other a time of 1m13.958 seconds.
Round 12, the first race of the day, produced a tremendous drive from the Randalstown racer on a wet track as he battled back from fourth place on the opening tour to a superb winning margin of 1.3 seconds from experienced Omani driver Ahmad Al Harthy.
Lining up on pole position for the first time in his single-seater career, Josh wasn’t able to make the getaway he wanted after getting too much wheelspin and lost three places by the time he reached the second corner, Campbell, at the entry to the complex.
Immediately fighting back, the Mulholland Scrap Metals-backed star grabbed third place from Al Harthy up the inside into Club Chicane before the end of the first lap and then passed second placed Dino Zamparelli prior to the run up Woodham Hill on the second tour.
Pressing on to challenge race leader Brett Parris, Josh was right on the tail of his rival at the end of lap four as they exited the chicane and he then moved into the lead through Allard before Parris slowed to an eventual retirement with alternator problems.
Pressing on at the front, Josh steered his Alpine Motorsport-run car to the second fastest lap of the race – 1m20.021 seconds – and went on to take his second victory in as many outings on the 12th tour with a well controlled drive.
Speaking after round 12, he commented: “I enjoyed that, it was good fun and in those conditions it was a lot like a kart race with the car moving around. I was a little bit worried about Ahmad (Al Harthy) towards the end as I could see him coming back on to me but the closest he could get was at the complex – there was nowhere else where he was close enough to challenge.
“I’m really pleased to have taken two wins on the bounce, we’ve been getting stronger and stronger as the year has gone on and I’ve been getting more and more comfortable with the car. Qualifying went well, taking both pole positions was a great feeling and to follow up with a win was fantastic. I also want to thank all the guys at Alpine for doing a great job for me this year – Sam, Andy, Mick, Paul and my engineer Stephen have been superb.”
Adding 32 points to his championship tally, Josh headed into the last race of the season with a great chance of fighting for the Vice-Champion’s position in the driver standings but contact on the first lap, which resulted in a spin and a subsequent retirement approximately a mile from the finish, meant he had to settle for a nonetheless impressive fourth place in the 2009 championship.
Starting on pole position again, Josh slipped to second place but was then tapped into a spin after contact at Goodwood. Recovering in sixth place, the car racing rookie mounted his comeback drive well and on lap two at the complex he passed Steven Durrant for fifth position.
Shadowing Joe Crook in fourth place, with Parris also just ahead in third, Josh searched for a way by although track conditions had worsened for the second race with an increasing level of spray making vision near-impossible at times. Remaining close to the tail of Crook into the final lap, Josh then had an unfortunate excursion at Village which led to an immediate retirement.
Although disappointed not to have finished the 13th and final round of the season, his only non-score of the campaign, Josh can take a great deal of satisfaction from his debut season of car racing as one of just three drivers to have taken pole positions and race victories.
In addition to his two wins and brace of pole positions, the Co. Antrim racer has also achieved four other podium results and five top sixes en-route to his top-four championship placing as the second highest rookie Protyre Formula Renault BARC competitor.
Final 2009 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship Standings:Champion: Kieren Clark, 324pts; 4th Josh Mulholland, 277pts
