Comtec Racing’s Westley Barber (Wimbish, Saffron Walden) took his fifth win of the season at Knockhill yesterday afternoon during the 14th round of the Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin while Motaworld Racing’s Brazilian ace Gustavo Sondermann (Rochester, Kent) took his second podium of the weekend.
“We struggled a bit in the first race this weekend but then we sat down, did our homework and we got it right”, said Barber on his fifth victory of 2004. “We worked well as a team and to win is a great result for us. At the moment it’s just about finishing as high as we possibly can and trying to eat into the lead Mike (Conway) has at the top of the standings.”
Barber, who is second in the driver standings to Fortec Motorsport’s Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent), made his NGK Laser Platinum Pole Position count as he led the field into the first corner with round 13 victor Paul Di Resta (Bathgate, West Lothian) in second position for Manor Motorsport and Fortec Motorsport’s Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent) in third.
Over the opening laps Di Resta really started to put Barber under pressure but on lap three a mistake by the Scotsman saw him run wide off the circuit, allowing Conway past into second place and Sondermann – who had started fourth on the grid – into third position.
A lap later, however, and the Brazilian made his way through into second position past the championship leader at Taylors Hairpin. Di Resta then began to mount his own sustained recovery and took third place from Conway but at the start of lap 12 the Clio Renaultsport V6 255 Safety Car was deployed to recover the stricken Falcon Motorsport car of debutant Jamie Gruber (Lechlade, Gloucestershire).
The race resumed two laps later with Di Resta and Conway now joined by Motaworld’s Oliver Jarvis (Burwell, Cambridgeshire), Fortec’s Charles Hollings (Norwood, West Yorkshire) and Team JLR’s Stephen Simpson (Enfield, Middlesex) in a very close battle.
On lap 17, Hollings produced a good move at the hairpin to take fifth position from Jarvis and Simpson also made his way through on the Motaworld driver which pushed him back to seventh position at the flag. Barber took the win on lap 24, 1.3 seconds ahead of Sondermann with Di Resta just shading Conway for the final podium placing.
Championship leader Conway crossed the line in fourth, team-mate Hollings was fifth, Simpson was sixth ahead of Jarvis and Fortec’s Stuart Hall rounded out the top eight. Canadian star Sean McIntosh was again the top ‘Graduate Cup’ runner in ninth place.
Second placed Gustavo Sondermann, on the podium twice at Knockhill this weekend, said: “I’m very happy to be racing in Formula Renault UK and I’ve had a very good time here. Qualifying went well for me, especially with pole position in the first race, and I hope now I can keep working hard with the team to have some more good results like this.”
Third placed Paul Di Resta, meanwhile, commented: “Unfortunately the mistake I made early on cost me any chance of the win but it’s good to be on the podium. We’ve made a lot of progress over the last few weeks and we seem to be going in the right direction so I’m hoping there’ll be more wins before the season’s end.”
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