Round 18
Nobody was able to match the pace and consistency of Fortec Motorsport’s Mike Conway (Sevenoaks, Kent) at Snetterton this weekend and after his eighth victory of the year during round 18 of the season Sunday afternoon, the 21-year old has proven exactly why he is the 2004 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Champion.
Conway was flawless throughout testing, qualifying and the two ‘double-header’ races at the 1.95-mile Norfolk circuit, but the 18th round was also notable for the excellent performance from Manor Motorsport’s Patrick Hogan (Whitfield, Northamptonshire) who secured his best ever Formula Renault UK result after finishing in second position.
Hogan certainly had a fright at the start of the race when, after an excellent getaway from third on the grid, he and Fortec’s Stuart Hall (Halstead, Essex), who was second on the grid behind pole-sitter Conway, came together as Hall attempted to defend his position and Hogan looked for a way into second place.
As the field headed through Riches Corner, Conway led from Manor’s Paul Di Resta (Bathgate, West Lothian) with Hogan in third, Team Firstair’s Sean McIntosh in fourth place and Hall back in fifth position.
On lap three, however, the Clio Renaultsport V6 255 Safety Car was deployed to bring the race under a yellow-flag cautionary period as marshals attempted to recover the Paston Racing car of Craig Dolby (Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire), the 16-year old having gone off circuit at Riches on lap two.
The re-start came on lap seven and with Conway continuing to lead, Hogan passed Di Resta on lap eight at the Esses to assume second position while Hall was fourth, Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Alex Storckenfeldt was in fifth position and ‘Graduate Cup’ points leader McIntosh was sixth.
James Jakes (Cullingworth, West Yorkshire), McIntosh’s chief rival in the ‘Graduate Cup’, certainly produced the kind of performance he needed to in order to take the battle for the ‘championship within a championship’ down to the wire at the final round at Donington Park.
The Team aka driver, having started a lowly 19th on the grid, enjoyed a superb race during round 18 and by lap nine he had made his way into seventh position. Hall, meanwhile, retired from the race with a puncture to his right rear tyre with McIntosh also coming to grief after running wide off the circuit – the Canadian eventually ended the race in 17th place.
On lap 12 another Safety Car period was required to allow the recovery of the second Team aka car of Peruvian driver Juan Manuel Polar, but on lap 16 the race was back underway with second-placed Hogan right under Conway’s rear wing as the cars crossed the start/finish line.
The champion managed to maintain his lead, however, and on lap 19 he took the chequered flag for his eighth win of the season with Hogan recording the best finish of his Formula Renault UK career, and only his second ever podium in the category, ahead of third placed team-mate Di Resta.
Comtec Racing’s Westley Barber (Wimbish, Saffron Walden), who had qualified in an uncharacteristic 10th position on the grid, finished the race in fourth position after some good driving while Storckenfeldt was fifth and Fortec’s Charles Hollings (Norwood, West Yorkshire) rounded out the top six.
Jakes was the top ‘Graduate Cup’ runner with an excellent seventh place while Team Firstair’s Brazilian driver Patrick Rocha also put in a superb drive to finish in eighth position, having started the race 14th on the grid. Michael Vitulli (Rainham, Essex), meanwhile, enjoyed his best finish of the season with 16th place for family-run Vitulli Racing.
Race winner Mike Conway commented: “It’s been a phenomenal weekend and it went as well as we could have wished for with the two wins. The race today was good and even though we had to cope with the Safety Car on two occasions it didn’t interfere with things too much and I was able to take another win, which is exactly what we came here to do.”
Patrick Hogan, delighted with his best ever Formula Renault UK result, said: “I don’t think many people could have touched Mike’s performance today but at the second restart I thought I had a chance to go round the outside of him at Riches. I thought better of it though and decided to try and have a go at Sear Corner, but it didn’t work and he managed to pull the gap then which he maintained to the end of the race.
“It’s been far too long since I’ve been on the podium. It’s funny, you can knock on the door of the podium for a long time but Formula Renault UK is so close you can be down in the second half of the grid if you’re not careful. It’s about time we achieved a result like today and I’m absolutely delighted for myself and the team.”
Paul Di Resta added: “I had a good start to pass Paddy (Hogan) and it seemed pretty straight forward from there but then the Safety Car came out twice and at the restarts I just didn’t seem to have the pace. Those periods worked out bad for me but you just have to take everything as it comes and do your best.
“This wasn’t the weekend we were looking for after going so well at Brands Hatch a couple of weeks ago but now we head to Donington Park for the next round and we have to see what we can do there. Hopefully we’ll be strong and put up a good fight to try and finish the year second in the championship.”
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