Hancock races to title at home circuit

Ollie Hancock (Hook) wrapped up the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship title with two races to spare after finishing second in round 10 at Thruxton on Sunday, 7th September. The Apotex Scorpio Motorsport driver came through from seventh on the grid to follow home race-winner Johannes Seidlitz (Skegness) of Mark Burdett Motorsport, who took his third victory of the campaign. Hillspeed’s pole-sitter Ahmad Al Harthy (Hathersage) completed the podium line-up.

Privateer Fraser Smart (Kilsyth) took the Club Class honours for the fourth time this season to open a 12-point lead over Steven Durrant (Rayleigh) who finished third. Durrant’s Muzz Race team-mate Adrian Dixon (Harpenden) split the pair in second.

The morning’s qualifying session was held on a drying track causing lap times to tumble throughout. A number of drivers took turns to head the 28-strong field but the session ended with Omani racer Ahmad Al Harthy on pole with a time of 1min 14.511s (113.82mph) around the 2.36-mile Hampshire circuit.

Seidlitz was second ahead of HS Motorsport/Antel’s Brett Parris (Southampton), Triple D’s Nathan Coulter (Hillsborough), Mark Burdett’s James Dixon (Stockbury) and Alpine Motorsport’s Kenny Andrews (Orsett). Heuthsports of Royston’s Edward Heinzelmann (Royston) took the Club Class pole in 22nd overall.

Despite overcast conditions, the expected rain failed to materialise in the afternoon. As the race got underway, Seidlitz immediately took the lead with a move around the outside at Allard. Parris suffered a loss of power in his engine on the Green Flag Lap and fell back through the pack to eventual retirement, while Hancock went in the opposite direction passing four cars on the opening tour to reach third place. SSS Motorsport’s Lee Dwyer (Huddersfield) also had a flying start, moving from 12th to seventh on lap one.

Hancock tried to pass Al Harthy at the Complex on lap two but had to back out of the move, before taking the place on lap three at Club chicane. Seidlitz opened a handy one-second lead, while Dixon tried to take third from Coulter at the Complex but spun down to 19th place.

The Club Class lead changed hands three times in the early stages, starting with Durrant passing Heinzelmann on lap one. The five-time race-winner then ran wide and onto the grass through Goodwood, damaging his front wing and handing the lead back to Heinzelmann. The lead lasted just one lap, before the pole-man replicated Durrant’s mistake and damaged the front of his car to fall to fifth as Adrian Dixon became the third man to lead.

Lap four saw Coulter and Al Harthy touch at Club as Coulter tried to take third place, the Northern Irishman retiring immediately as Al Harthy continued but fell behind Andrews. One lap later, Smart took the lead in Club Class with Dixon unable to offer much resistance to the Scot as he drafted past up Woodham Hill.

By lap seven, Seidlitz’ lead was up to three seconds as Andrews, Al Harthy and Hillspeed’s Menasheh Idafar (London) began to close on Hancock. The second half of the 14-lap race began with Al Harthy and Idafar dropping Dwyer, while Alpine’s Isa Yousif (Southampton) started to pick up pace in seventh place.

After Welch Motorsport’s Kourosh Khani (Corby) spun out of the race at the Complex on lap eight, Tempus Sport’s Don De Graaff (Weybridge) almost followed on lap 10. De Graaff was trying to pass Hillspeed’s Michael Lyons (Felsted) for 10th place but spun as he reacted to the yellow flags deployed with respect to Khani’s stricken car and had to abort the manoeuvre.

Hancock set his personal best lap time on lap 10 but it was Yousif who scored the bonus point for the race’s fastest lap at 1min 14.423s (113.96mph). Hancock then had a poor 11th lap allowing Andrews to cut half a second from his advantage as Seidlitz stretched away to safety. Like Seidlitz, Club Class leader Smart was managing the gap to Adrian Dixon, while Durrant had recovered to third place.

In the closing stages, Idafar was looking to gain further places and almost took fourth from Al Harthy but thought twice about passing at Allard. Later on lap 13, the leaders caught a back-marker and Andrews was forced to brake through the fast corners midway round the lap. Al Harthy took full advantage of his greater momentum to reclaim third place, while Idafar dropped to seventh behind Yousif.

Seidlitz locked a wheel under braking for the chicane on the penultimate lap despite being under no pressure. Yousif continued his second-half charge by passing Dwyer on the final lap but his team-mate Andrews was unable to catch Al Harthy for the final podium spot.

At the chequered flag, German driver Seidlitz celebrated the race win but behind him, Hancock easily did enough to clinch the title at his home circuit. Smart was first home in Club Class, a full four seconds ahead of Dixon. The podium presentation saw Hancock doused in champagne as friends and supporters joined the celebrations.

Commenting on his race win, Seidlitz said: “I got a good start and went for the lead straight away at the first bend and then had the inside at the Complex. Once I was ahead I got a gap as quickly as possible and made sure I kept it steady so it was quite a straightforward win.”

New FR2000 Class champion Ollie Hancock said: “It’s just fantastic to win the championship today, I can’t quite believe it in a way. Again I have to thank the team at Scorpio who have done such a great job for me all year. The race today went well after a disappointing qualifying – I got off the line well and did most of the hard work on the first lap. After that I just had to concentrate on scoring the points I needed.”

Third-placed Ahmad Al Harthy said: “In the end I’m quite happy with third place because my exhaust was hit early on and then I had a touch with Coulter at the chicane. I didn’t want to test how much damage there was to my wheel, it wasn’t worth the risk so I just made sure I kept going and was able to get back to third by the end of the race.”

Club Class winner Fraser Smart said: “We had to make some repairs to the car after qualifying and the race was the perfect outcome for me. The car was working really well and I was quick enough to catch and pass Adrian in the slipstream. Once I’d built the gap I just kept an eye on it and it sets things up nicely for Silverstone.”

Second-placed Adrian Dixon said: “It’s a very tough race at Thruxton because although you’re not working so hard as some circuits with the amount of turns, the high-speed corners take it out of you. I knew Fraser was a bit quicker than me but I was able to stay with him when he got by, which is encouraging.”

Third-placed Steven Durrant said: “A podium is usually good but from a championship point of view I need to be doing a lot better. I was obviously disappointed to go off and the damage done to my car basically settled my race then. To get back to third was damage limitation and about the best I could do.”

With Hancock already clinching the FR2000 Class title, all eyes will be on the battle for the last-ever Club Class title, which will be decided in rounds 11 and 12 at Silverstone National circuit on 4th/5th October. Smart holds a 12-point advantage but would currently drop 10 points as each driver scores their best 11 results from 12 rounds.