In terms of time in the cockpit, Russ Danzey is inarguably one of the most inexperienced drivers in the field in the 2011 Formula Renault BARC Championship – but to witness his remarkable performance on his debut in the fiercely-fought single-seater series at Donington Park, you would have been hard-pressed to tell.

Having graduated from a successful karting career into cars midway through 2010 with a promising toe-in-the-water exercise in the entry-level Autosport Young Guns Championship, Russ has revved things up another gear by stepping up to Formula Renault BARC this year with the recently-founded, Mark Godwin-run MGR Motorsport outfit – a team benefitting from the skills of versatile and ultra-experienced former British F3 Champion, sometime F1 test-driver and touring car and sportscar star Kelvin Burt as a driver coach.

“Mark Godwin came very highly-recommended,” explained the talented young Sheffield speed demon. “He has worked with quite a few teams in Formula Renault BARC, and for us, he was the man to be with. Having Kelvin Burt there as a driver coach was also a major pull, given the amount of track time he has had throughout his career – he understands every little thing about the car, and can really relate to what I’m telling him. I’ve already learned a ridiculous amount from him.

“Kelvin watches from the sidelines and can tell us exactly what we are doing wrong. He’s so instinctive, and he can pick up the tiniest little things from the data to improve our performance – it’s just unbelievable. That has changed the way I think, too, and the wealth of experience he has will be pivotal to helping me to progress this year.

“In some respects, going with MGR was a long shot, because the team had only just formed and we didn’t truly know how it was all going to turn out – but I think we’ve really landed on our feet. Being a young team, of course, everybody is still learning how to work with each other, but there’s never any tension or quarrels – just a really good atmosphere. I think I’m probably in the best place on the grid right now for bringing drivers on.”

Limited winter testing had permitted Russ the opportunity to gain something of a handle on each of the tracks that the 2011 Formula Renault BARC Championship will visit over the coming months – Donington Park, Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Croft, Thruxton and Silverstone – and heading to the curtain-raiser around his ‘home’ circuit of Donington, the Dore-based hotshot professed himself in reasonably confident spirits off the back of an encouraging day of running there.

“I think we came on in leaps-and-bounds during testing at every track,” he affirmed. “That was really beneficial for me in terms of getting to grips with everything ahead of the season. I’m still clearly on a learning curve, but I think we’re a lot closer than we were back at the beginning of testing.

“I knew I still had some time to find at Donington, and the main goal for the weekend really was to be up there with the leading rookies. Quite a lot of the drivers in the field have done at least a year in the series already – and some have done several – so it was always going to be hard to pitch myself against them.”

Be that as it may, 13th place in both qualifying sessions – barely a second shy of the outright benchmark in the 22-strong field – was an extremely solid way to begin, and as Russ reflected, ‘pretty much all the drivers in front of me on the grid were older and had more experience’.

Even more strikingly, heading into his first race in the championship, the 16-year-old MSA Academy member betrayed no discernible nerves – and belying the fact that he had not had chance to practise any starts beforehand, he left the line like the proverbial scalded cat.

“I really bogged down as we set off on the ‘green flag’ lap, so I thought I probably wouldn’t get a great start after that,” he mused, “but I actually made up four places to ninth! Later on, I went for a move on the driver ahead and got up the inside of him; I thought he would give me a car’s width, but he kept moving across and put me on the grass, so I had to rally it a bit!

“I did manage to get past him into the chicane shortly afterwards which put me eighth, and I was gaining on the driver in seventh but as my tyres went off in the closing stages, I dropped back into the clutches of my team-mate, who just pipped me at the end. Still, for my first race in the championship, it was fantastic to come away with a top ten finish!”

That much is indisputable, and Russ’ pace and consistency were impressive indeed. With his confidence buoyed, he headed into race two bidding to produce a repeat performance – only unfortunately, one of his rivals had other ideas...

“I got a really bad start again on the ‘green flag’ lap, and a really good one again when the lights actually went out!” quipped the Birkdale School AS-level student. “I was up to eighth and everything felt good, but then I ran just a little bit wide which allowed the driver behind to latch onto the back of me and I couldn’t shake him off. Going into the chicane at the end of lap two, he went up the inside and put me off onto the grass; that launched me across the kerb, cost me a couple of places and bunched the pack right up.

“We then went about five-abreast down towards the first corner beginning lap three! I made a good manoeuvre up the inside of someone to regain a position, looked in my mirror and didn’t see anybody and so started to turn in – and then suddenly, there was a flash of red to my inside. I got a clip from behind, which sent me into the side of the driver I was overtaking and broke my suspension.”

Game over on the spot and through no fault of his own, the early bath did not in any way take the gloss off what was an overwhelmingly positive weekend during which Russ turned many a head and caught many an eye. As he looks ahead to the second meeting on the schedule around Brands Hatch’s Indy Circuit, he does so with his tail up.

“I definitely feel stronger going to Brands,” he underlined in conclusion. “The gap to the front shrunk as the weekend wore on at Donington, and in every race we go to now, it should keep on shrinking. I was quick in testing at Brands so I know I’ve got the speed round there and I’m feeling confident – and the main objective is to just keep on progressing and moving up the field.”

Russ is seeking sponsorship for the remainder of 2011; if you are interested in backing South Yorkshire’s brightest budding F1 hope, please contact his father Rob on 07779 995555 or at: robert.danzey@mac.com

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