Susie Stoddart (Northampton) achieved her third podium finish of the season at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire on Sunday during the 10th round of the 2004 Formula Renault UK Championship – but at one stage it looked as though she may have taken her long-awaited debut victory in the category.
Having led the race following Comtec Racing team-mate Westley Barber’s (Wimbish, Saffron Walden) retirement on lap six following a puncture, Stoddart was soon passed by Fortec Motorsport’s Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent) who went on to win the race by almost two and a half seconds.
Stoddart finished in second place ahead of Team JLR’s Stephen Simpson (Enfield, Middlesex) in third position – his second podium of the year – and Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Alex Storckenfeldt in fourth place. Motaworld Racing’s Joey Foster (Truro, Cornwall) was fifth ahead of lead Graduate Cup runner Jameks Jakes (Cullingworth, West Yorkshire) who finished in sixth position for Team aka.
Speaking on his way, Conway said: “I was definitely quick enough to win this race but it was a shame Westley had his problem with the tyre – having said that I had a similar problem in the free practice on Saturday. It’s fantastic to win and is obviously very good for the championship.”
Stoddart, meanwhile, added: “I really did feel like I could have won today but I made a small mistake and that allowed Mike to pass me. He drove very well though, and at the end of it we were very evenly matched so I couldn’t make any inroads.
“It’s quite frustrating because my first win is getting closer and closer all the time. We know we have the pace and so we just need a bit of luck now to make it happen. I know I’m capable of winning races and hopefully in the second half of the season I’ll do just that.”
Simpson said: “This is absolutely brilliant. Once I finished on the podium at Silverstone I got the feeling for it and I just want to be in the top three at every race now. Of course, it’s more difficult to do that in practice but things are coming together and we’re confident we can have more podiums when the championship resumes in July.”
Saturday’s ninth round of the championship, which took place prior to the tragedy-hit ninth round of the ELF/BTE Lawline Renault Clio Cup where much-loved competitor Kevin Lloyd lost his life, saw Barber earn his fourth win of the season with Conway second and Storckenfeldt third. Manor Motorsport’s Paul Di Resta (Bathgate, West Lothian) finished in fourth position ahead of Stoddart in fifth and Motaworld’s Oliver Jarvis (Burwell, Cambridgeshire) in sixth place.
Conway leads the driver standings by a huge 105 points from closest challenger Barber, the latter’s team-mate Stoddart now just nine points further adrift in third position.
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