03/11/07 » Donnington » A double podium finish in Brett’s debut Formula Renault race

The BARC Formula Renault Winter series consists of two rounds, with two races at each. The first of which was at Donnington Park. Having had very little time in the seat of the Formula Renault, the odds were firmly stacked against Brett going into his debut meeting, competing against a field of very competitive and experienced teams and drivers. Despite this he qualified 5th for both races.

Race one showed that Brett’s racecraft was still good enough to turn heads in Formula Renault. He stormed through to second place within the first few laps, and his race pace was consistent enough to withstand the extreme pressure from the chasing pack. Second position in his debut race exceeded everybody’s expectations, and filled the team with confidence going into the remaining winter series races.

Brett had a far more difficult start in race two. When one of the cars ahead spun, Brett had to take evasive action to avoid hitting him, which meant a trip through the gravel. This put him back in 9th position. It looked as if Brett had no hope of catching the leading cars from this position, until he had a stroke of luck when the safety car was brought out due to another incident. This bunched the pack back up, and immediately after the race was restarted he began making fast progress through the field. He made his way up to P2, and established a comfortable gap between himself and the chasing pack. By this time there was no chance of catching the leader, but second position was thought to be in the bag until he had another trip through the gravel after sliding off on a patch of oil left by another car. This dropped his to P3, where he remained to the chequered flag. Despite the disappointment of losing second position in race two, it was a very positive weekend overall. Two podium finishes was more than anyone could have hoped for in the teams first Formula Renault outing.