Professional sportscar driver Andrew Kirkaldy underlined his class during mid-season Formula Renault UK Championship testing at Snetterton in Norfolk yesterday after setting the fastest time for Team aka.Kirkaldy, who combines his racing career with management duties at Team aka, opted to test the team’s second car and set a best time of 1m 05.161 seconds (107.84mph) to lap the 1.95 mile circuit 0.150 seconds quicker than Swedish ace Stefan Soderberg, driving for Team JLR.
Fellow JLR driver Stephen Simpson (Enfield, Middlesex) was third fastest, a mere five 1,000ths of a second slower than Soderberg, with Motaworld Racing’s Joey Foster (Truro, Cornwall) fourth and Team aka’s regular driver James Jakes (Cullingworth, West Yorkshire) fifth – Jakes was also the quickest of the six drivers eligible for the Graduate Cup.
Comtec Racing’s Susie Stoddart (Northampton) ended the test sixth fastest overall with a time of 1m 05.394 seconds while Stuart Hall (Halstead, Essex) was the quickest of the Fortec Motorsport drivers in seventh, just ahead of team-mate and championship leader Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent).
Westley Barber (Wimbish, Saffron Walden) was ninth for Comtec, Team JVA’s Sean Edwards (Henley-on-Thames) was 10th, Fortec’s Charles Hollings (Norwood, West Yorkshire) finished the test in 11th position and JA Motorsport’s James Gornall (Werrington, Peterborough) was an impressive 12th fastest, less than seven 10ths of a second slower than pace-setter Kirkaldy.
Meanwhile, Formula Renault UK newcomer Gustavo Sondermann, who has just signed a deal until the end of the current season with Motaworld, was 22nd overall. The Brazilian has been competing so far this year in the North American Formula Renault Championship.
Former karting ace Chris Dent, making his official Formula Renault UK test debut, enjoyed a productive day with Mark Burdett Motorsport and set a best time of 1m 07.801 seconds – just over two and a half seconds off Kirkaldy’s pace.
Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire hosts the 11th and 12th rounds of the Formula Renault UK Championship on Saturday, 24th July, and Sunday, 25th July.
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