James Theodore enjoyed a highly successful weekend at Rockingham during the penultimate event of the 2010 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship season, the Hillspeed driver securing his second win of the year in round nine and backing it up with a further podium result in round 10.
Moving the 18-year-old right into the thick of the battle over third place in the driver standings, his results at the Northamptonshire venue’s 1.94-mile International Super Sports Car Circuit mean the Telford racer has an improved chance of pushing for a top three finish in the championship during the finale at Thruxton a month from now.
Team-mate Alice Powell, who has a real chance to win her first car racing title during the final two rounds after consolidating her runner-up spot in the points standings this afternoon, Sunday, 12th September, wasn’t able to make it onto the podium but she backed up a strong fourth place in race one with a determined drive to seventh in race two – having been pushed back to 13th on lap one.
Hillspeed’s third driver, Josephine Ferrada, visited Rockingham for the first time and did a good job on her track debut with a best result of 14th place in the second encounter – an impressive effort by the Anglo-German rookie having been unable to test since the last event at the start of August.
“Overall we’re very pleased with the weekend, it’s fantastic to see James back on the top step of the podium and to have finished third in the second race really does give him a big boost in terms of championship points”, said Hillspeed team principal Richard Ollerenshaw.
“Alice raced very well in both outings and had the pace to be on the podium, it was just unfortunate she got caught out at the hairpin in the second race but she did a very good job and is still in with a real chance of the title. Josephine also had a good weekend. She hasn’t been in the car since the last two rounds so we’re pleased with the progress she made at a track she had no experience of.”
Powell battles hard to keep title bid aliveAt the start of round nine, Theodore made a good getaway from pole position – which he secured by just over a 10th of a second – while Powell held on to her fifth place and Ferrada negotiated the first few corners cleanly in 18th spot.
Theodore held a cushion of seven 10ths of a second into lap two and initially managed to extend his advantage but the Liberty Properties-backed driver came under increasing pressure as the race reached mid-distance. Unruffled by the attention, Theodore maintained his composure superbly and showed no signs of giving up his lead prior to the appearance of the Safety Car at the start of lap 10.
The race was eventually red flagged and brought to a conclusion a lap early due to a tangle at the exit of Turn One involving Steven Durrant and Tommaso Menchini. Therefore, Theodore was declared the winner after 13 laps.
Powell’s race was a little more eventful and, very importantly, she finished the outing two places ahead of championship leader and title rival Mitchell Hale. On lap three at Deene Hairpin she took fourth place with a strong move on the brakes and then set about catching the top three prior to the Safety Car being deployed. In the end though, the Chipping Norton racer had to settle for fourth.
Ferrada finished in 16th place, two spots ahead of her starting position due to the non-finish for Durrant and Menchini. The Hillspeed rookie improved her pace markedly in round 10 though, finishing in 14th position in only her second race outing on the challenging Rockingham track and posting a best lap time seven 10ths of a second faster than her quickest in the opening encounter.
Theodore lined-up for the second race on the front-row after another impressive qualifying effort but at the start he slipped to third. Dropping into fourth part way through the first lap, he moved back into third on lap three after getting ahead of Hale at Deene Hairpin and remained there to the chequered flag for his fourth podium of the campaign.
Powell qualified on the second row for race two but as she strived to make progress at the hairpin on lap one, the Silverstone Hotels-supported driver was pushed back down the order to 13th and had a battle on her hands to minimise the impact to her championship hopes.
Racing strongly and with great commitment, Powell sliced her way back through into the top 10 and moved into seventh by lap six with a great recovery – largely thanks to some tremendous moves on the brakes into Tarzan Hairpin. Keen to make further progress, she hit a bit of a roadblock behind series returnee Brett Parris who defended heavily lap after lap so Powell had to settle for seventh.
It’s certainly been a sensationally strong few weeks for Hillspeed with Theodore’s round nine Formula Renault BARC win preceded by an unbroken run of four victories for the team’s Ginetta Junior Championship hopeful Tom Ingram at Silverstone and Knockhill.
The Derbyshire squad will be back in action in the East Midlands this coming weekend, 18th/19th September, at Donington Park National Circuit for the penultimate event of the 2010 Ginetta Junior season. The finale of the Formula Renault BARC Championship, rounds 11 and 12, will take place at Thruxton in Hampshire on Sunday, 17th October.
2010 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship Driver Standings (after Rds9&10):2nd Alice Powell, 244pts; 6th James Theodore, 190pts; 14th Josephine Ferrada, 68pts
