Westley Barber (Wimbish, Saffron Walden) took his first Formula Renault UK win of the season at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, Kent, Saturday afternoon after converting his NGK Laser Platinum Pole Position into a two second victory over Comtec Racing team-mate Susie Stoddart (Northampton) – only her second ever category podium.
After a tremendous start Barber was never troubled throughout the duration of the 24 laps while Stoddart equalled her best ever Formula Renault UK race result with a well deserved second position. It was also a fantastic race for Charles Hollings (Norwood, West Yorkshire) who made his first ever trip to the podium after taking third position for Fortec Motorsport.
Having dominated the day’s earlier qualifying session, the Comtec pairing of Barber and Stoddart had every reason to be confident heading into round three of the season and the result adds even more spice to one of the most open championship battles in years.
Fortec’s Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent), who qualified fourth on the grid, put team-mate Hollings under intense pressure for a large portion of the race but the Yorkshireman managed to hold on and crossed the line less than a 10th of a second ahead of the pre-season title favourite. Hollings’ performance also earned him the ELF/Atol Driver of the Day award.
Motaworld Racing’s Oliver Jarvis (Burwell, Cambridgeshire) drove well to finish in fifth position ahead of sixth-placed Alex Storckendfeldt in his Mark Burdett Motorsport car.
Commenting on the win Barber said: “It’s really a win for the team more than for me – the car was so easy to drive and every lap I managed to go quicker and quicker. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and it’ll just be a matter of getting a good start and, hopefully, another win.”
Second-placed Susie Stoddart said: “I made a cracking start and really did try to keep with Westley early on but he managed to get away after a few laps. I’m very happy with my car and I’ll certainly be pushing 110 per cent tomorrow – there’s no reason why I can’t win tomorrow’s race and that’s what I’ll be aiming to do.”
Charles Hollings, meanwhile, said: “Thruxton was a bit of a nightmare for us but hopefully this podium signifies the true start of the season for me. I’m very happy and the car was really good today. It was hard work keeping my team-mate (Conway) behind so it was important not to make mistakes. I held on to third place though and so I’m absolutely delighted.”
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