Sweden’s Alex Storckenfeldt underlined his status as one of the favourites for the 2005 Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin title, during official pre-season testing at Oulton Park Island Circuit yesterday.
The Team AKA sensation headed the timesheets by 0.163 seconds at the end of the first of two days of testing on the 2.22-mile Cheshire circuit, his best time of 1m 18.885 seconds (101.58mph) enabling Storckenfeldt to become the only driver to dip under the 1m 19 second barrier.
His closest challenger was Fortec Motorsport’s Yelmer Buurman, who didn’t complete a lap during the morning session. The Dutchman’s best time of 1m 19.048 seconds saw him eclipse Manor Motorsport’s Oliver Jarvis (Burwell, Cambridgeshire) into third position by a mere four 1,000ths of a second.
Team-mates Stuart Hall (Halstead, Essex) and Sebastian Hohenthal were fourth and fifth fastest respectively, giving Fortec three drivers in the top five. Team Firstair’s Sean McIntosh set the sixth best time with a lap of 1m 19.498 seconds while Manor’s Venezuelan driver Rodolfo Gonzalez was seventh.
Fellow Manor driver Patrick Hogan was eighth with a time of 1m 19.747 seconds, the Irishman having headed the timesheets at the end of the morning session, with AKA’s James Jakes (Leeds) ninth and Chinese driver Cheng Congfu continuing his solid testing form in 10th position for Manor.
A trio of as-yet unregistered drivers were once again taking part in official testing with Irish youngster Emmett Queenan 15th overall for AKA, Bradley Ellis 18th fastest for Mark Burdett Motorsport and Australian newcomer Karl Reindler setting the 23rd quickest time for Mark Burdett on his Formula Renault UK test debut.
Official Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin testing continues at Oulton Park Island Circuit today, Thursday, 17th March.
Full Oulton Park testing times available at msttiming.com
For all the latest Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin news visit the official Renault Sport UK website www.renaultsport.co.uk built by Racecar
