Fortec Motorsport’s Duncan Tappy (West Ewell) took full advantage of a startline mistake by his main title rival Dean Smith (Wolverhampton) to win round 13 of the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship and take a nine-point lead in the drivers’ standings. AKA Cobra’s Adam Christodoulou (Lichfield) finished second for the second time this season, with Apotex Scorpio Motorsport’s Will Bratt (Banbury) in third at Snetterton on Sunday, 29th July.
Championship leader Smith earned pole position in Saturday’s qualifying session but bogged down on the start line, dropping to last place when he eventually got going. Tappy took the lead with Christodoulou darting around Smith to take second ahead of his cousin Riki Christodoulou (Sutton Coldfield), with Manor Competition’s Alexander Sims (Peterborough) and Bratt fourth and fifth respectively.
Bratt soon found a way past Sims for fourth place, moving to the inside at the Esses as Sims braked too late to make the corner and took to the grass. Meanwhile, Apotex Scorpio Motorsport’s David Epton (Fleet) pitted with a damaged front wing after relatively low-speed contact with Manor’s Alex Morgan (Bridgend).
At the end of lap two the Safety Car was brought out so marshals could retrieve the stricken car of Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Daniel Ivarsson (Skegness) who went off at Riches on the opening lap. When racing resumed on lap six, Smith began making his way back through the field passing AKA Cobra’s Nathan Caratti (London) for 14th place.
Tappy built his lead over Adam Christodoulou to 0.75s just two laps after the restart but he was unable to stretch any further away from the Graduate Cup leader. On lap eight, Smith passed his Fortec team-mate Ryuji Yamamoto (Northampton) for 13th, the duo both moving up the order two laps later when AKA Cobra’s Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet) made a small error to drop back.
Bratt continued an excellent race by closing onto the rear of Riki Christodoulou, pressuring the first-year driver into running wide at Sear corner. This gave Bratt better momentum down the Revett straight and he completed the pass at the Bomb Hole, with Sims alert enough to follow Bratt through to take fourth.
Smith undid his earlier good work on lap 11 by running wide at Sear and falling back behind Caratti in 15th place. Tappy’s lead now stood at 1.5s with a further 3.5s gap to Bratt. In seventh, Manor Competition’s Kris Loane (Kesh) was enjoying his best race of the season but coming under increasing pressure from Eucatex’s Adriano Buzaid (Oxford).
On lap 17, Riki Christodoulou made amends for his earlier error at Sear by diving through on the inside of Sims at the same corner. With Sims losing momentum, Singleton looked to capitalise but it was Sims who attempted the overtaking move on Christodoulou at the Esses. Contact saw Sims spin in the chicane, with Christodoulou hugely unfortunate to suffer a puncture causing him to retire at the Bomb Hole as Singleton inherited fourth. Sims later had his licence endorsed with two points.
On lap 19 of what was now a 21-lap race after the Safety Car period, Buzaid attempted an overtaking move on Loane at the Esses but was unable to make it cleanly through. The contact resulted in Buzaid stopping in the chicane and the red flag to be deployed to stop the race. Buzaid did restart but the race was declared a result at the end of lap 18.
Commenting on his fourth win of the season, Tappy said: “The start was unfortunate for Dean but great for me. I didn’t have much of a lead and Adam was pushing me the whole way so I had to concentrate on setting good lap times. To get the fastest lap as well is brilliant and it sets me up well in the championship. ”
Second placed Adam Christodoulou said: “It was close with Dean at the start because you don’t expect to have to move around someone so quickly. Fortec have been really strong this year so I was pleased to be able to keep in touch with Duncan and even though I never got close enough I was always looking for the win. ”
Third placed Bratt said: “Snetterton has traditionally been one of my weaker circuits so to come through from sixth to third is good. I had a great start and then to get past Alexander and Riki put me up with the leaders. I closed for a couple of laps but could never get in the tow to get right with them, but I can’t complain about third place. ”
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