George Gamble continued to impress with his excellent transition to single-seater racing during the final two rounds of the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Winter Series with Michelin on Saturday, 10th November, at Rockingham in Northamptonshireending the campaign seventh in the title race.
Having only made his competitive debut in open-wheel racing three weeks ago, where he starred with sixth and seventh place results at Brands Hatch, the Nottingham 16-year-old again belied his limited experience at Rockingham to end the four-race series as the highest placed rookie.
Only an unfortunate excursion in the first of the events two races, taking place in very slippery conditions which caught-out a number of seasoned Formula Renault BARC competitors, cost George the chance of concluding the campaign in the coveted championship top six; he missed out in the end by a mere four points.
It would have been great to finish the Winter Series sixth in the championship but Im pleased with the performances weve shown, especially with hardly any testing and against such an experienced, competitive field, said the Epperstone-based teenager.
We had a difficult start to Rockingham, there were a lot of problems with the car on Fridaywe had a suspension failure and several other issuesso our preparation wasnt helped. In qualifying and both races we had a lot of understeer which made things really tricky in the conditions, so I think I did the best I possibly could in the circumstances. Overall, Im happy with what we achieved.
Despite struggling with understeer, George managed to qualify seventh fastest for rounds three and four and things were going well in the opening race until his car slid off the circuit at the particularly slippery Tarzan Hairpin, as the rookie pushed hard to catch erstwhile points leader Matt Mason.
Although having slipped to 10th position on lap one, the Nottinghamshire youngster made the most of an early Safety Car period to begin climbing back up the order. Running in eighth position on lap seven, the car ran slightly too wide on entry to the Tarzan right-hander and the resulting trip into the gravel meant immediate retirement.
Aiming to make amends in the final round, the 2011 Ginetta Junior Winter Series Champion did just that on a rapidly drying track by finishing in the top eightalthough claiming the points for seventh position due to runner-up Matthew Brabham being ineligible to score.
Running in eighth for the first three laps, George was pushed back to ninth by experienced runner Ivan Taranov but soon gained the place back following a moment for Luke Williams. Remaining there to the finish, the result capped a very strong maiden single-seater campaign.
Were not sure what next year will hold, added the 16-year-old, Ive really enjoyed racing in Formula Renault BARC but whether or not well be back next year hasnt been decided yet, we just need to see what happens over the winter. Id really like to be back racing in Formula Renault BARC, or the new BRDC Formula 4 Championship, but we need to secure more sponsorship first.
Final 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Winter Series with Michelin Standings:7th George Gamble, 50pts
