Victorious Hancock has one hand on title

Apotex Scorpio Motorsport’s Ollie Hancock (Hook) is within reach of the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship crown after a win and a second place in the latest rounds at Snetterton on Saturday, 9th August. The FR2000 Class leader finished second to Alpine Motorsport’s Isa Yousif (Southampton) in round eight before winning a rain-affected round nine.

Scotsman Fraser Smart (Kilsyth) took Club Class honours in round eight when title rival Steven Durrant (Rayleigh) retired with a snapped throttle cable. Durrant made amends in round nine with victory ahead of Smart to trail by just seven points in the Club Class standings.

The morning’s qualifying session saw Hancock claim pole position for both races ahead of Yousif, with Double M Racing’s Ross Curnow (Salisbury) and Hillspeed’s Menasheh Idafar (London) on row two. Durrant took the Club Class pole for both races, on the 11th row overall.

Race one began with the leaders making an even start, the top four on the grid followed by Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Johannes Seidlitz (Skegness). Hillspeed’s Ahmad Al Harthy (Hathersage) came through from ninth to sixth ahead of Mark Burdett’s James Dixon (Stockbury) and Alpine’s Kenny Andrews (Orsett).

Hancock’s lead was short-lived, however, Yousif passing him with a brave move on the outside as the pair entered the Esses on lap two. The Bahraini driver was able to maintain the inside line for the right-handed half of the corner as he sought his first Formula Renault BARC victory.

Down the order, Taro Motorsport’s Ash Davies (Conwy) passed Hillspeed’s Michael Lyons (Felsted) for 12th behind Tempus Sport’s Don de Graaff (Weybridge), who succumbed to the Welshman on the following lap. At the front, Yousif built a one-second lead by lap four and set the fastest lap of the race on lap six at 1min 08.620s (102.40mph).

A poor second lap by Durrant saw him slip to second in Club Class behind Smart and the pair were separated by less then a second during the first half the race, crossing the line side by side to begin lap six with Durrant taking the lead.

With the top three evenly spaced at 1.5s intervals, Davies completed his rise to the top 10 by overtaking HS Motorsport/Antel’s Brett Parris (Southampton) on lap five. Parris re-took the place on lap seven with a move that began at Riches and ended at Sear, while Dwyer passed Lyons after several unsuccessful attempts on the preceding laps.

Lap eight saw Durrant crawl into the pits with his mechanical issue, gifting the Club Class lead to Smart with Steve Hanselman (Mayland) and Adrian Dixon (Harpenden) filling the remaining podium positions. The start of lap 10 saw Andrews, Dixon and Triple D’s Nathan Coulter (Hillsborough) cross the line covered by less than a car length, Andrews maintain his seventh place, while Coulter slowed enough to lose ninth place to Parris.

With Yousif untroubled by Hancock throughout the race, the main battle in the podium positions saw Curnow pressed constantly by Idafar, Curnow making no mistakes to allow the British-born Bahraini a chance of third place.

Lap 11 saw Parris re-passed by Coulter as they continued their tussle for ninth before the Ulsterman put a wheel off the circuit at the Bomb Hole. As he slid back onto the track, he collected the unfortunate Parris ending both their races. With the cars in a dangerous position, the red flag was deployed to end the race and the result declared at the end of lap 10.

Hancock hits the front

Heavy rain between races saw the 29-strong field take to the grid on wet weather tyres for the start of round nine. Hancock bogged down on pole position allowing Yousif through into first place. In midfield, Pearson Engineering Services’ Ian Pearson (Didcot) stalled but great work from the marshals saw his car removed in time for the race to continue.

With spray a problem for all the drivers, Andrews slid wide at Coram on lap two allowing Seidlitz through into fifth place. The end of lap three saw Alpine’s Belgian racer Jordi Weckx (Southampton) spin on Senna Straight, hitting the pit wall and bringing out the red flag.

The race restarted over a revised 10-lap distance with the grid in race order. This time it was Yousif’s turn to struggle for grip on pole position allowing Hancock to move in front by going round the outside at Riches. The championship leader wasted little time in asserting himself, taking full advantage of a clear track and spray-free visor to build a six-second lead inside three laps.

Parris picked up two places at the start to lie sixth. Curnow was third behind Yousif, followed by Seidlitz and Andrews. In Club Class, Durrant had made a great start to lie 12th overall ahead of several FR2000 Class cars and comfortably ahead of Smart.

Lap three saw Yousif spin out of second place at the Esses, the corner where he had excelled in the earlier race. The mistake cost him 20 seconds and dropped him to 11th but he recovered to cross the line in eighth. Seidlitz inherited second place but was coming under extreme pressure from Curnow in third. They had a larger gap back to Andrews and Parris who were also running nose-to-tail.

Lapped traffic was the only problem for Hancock, his lead reduced by three seconds when he caught a back marker but was unable to pass immediately due to yellow flags after a spin by Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Pierre Renom (London). A slide by James Dixon dropped him from seventh to 13th, while Welch Motorsport’s Kourosh Khani (Corby) and Lyons both retired on lap six.

Hancock rebuilt his lead to seven seconds by lap seven, while Idafar passed Tempus’ Niki Faulkner (Rushden) for seventh place. By now, Curnow had fallen several seconds behind Seidlitz as the German driver looked to take second place in the overall standings from Yousif.

In Club Class, Durrant drove a superb race to be the only competitor in a pre-2000 car to remain on the lead lap, crossing the line in 15th overall. First to the chequered flag, however, was Hancock who now needs just five points from the final three races to clinch the title.

Following post-race scrutineering, Ross Curnow was excluded from the results promoting Kenny Andrews into third place and his first podium of the season.

Commenting on the weekend, Ollie Hancock said: “It’s gone almost as well as possible and now the job is nearly done. I came here looking for two podiums at the least so a second and a first is excellent. The conditions were tough in the afternoon but the best place to be in that situation is out in front and I made the most of it.”

Round eight winner Isa Yousif said: “I’ve been waiting a long time to get a win in Formula Renault BARC so it feels great. I was very confident going for the overtaking move in race one and I have to thank the team for giving me a great car. I haven’t got much experience in the rain and made a small mistake but I will learn from it.”

Club Class leader Fraser Smart, victor in round eight, said: “It’s not the way you want to win a race, seeing another car retire in front of you, because we’ve been having close races all season. We had to change the gearbox overnight on Friday so to get a win and still be leading the championship is a good reward for my whole team.”

Round nine Club Class winner Steven Durrant said: “I was gutted to lose points to Fraser in the first race because it had been going so well, but winning this afternoon makes up for it. The conditions were pretty bad in the midfield with the spray so in a way it’s good just to finish. Hopefully we can close the gap further at the next event.”

Round 10 of the Formula Renault BARC Championship takes place at Thruxton in Hampshire, the UK’s fastest circuit, on Sunday, 7th September.