Hywel Lloyd (Corwen) claimed the first victory of his single-seater career with a dominant display from pole position in round one of the Formula Renault BARC Championship at Donington Park on Sunday, 29th April. The Welsh privateer led home series debutant Aaron Steele (Chatham) and Felix Fisher (Bridgwater) to take the early lead in the FR2000 Class drivers’ standings. Reigning Club Class champion Ian Pearson (Didcot) took the Club Class win ahead of newcomer Marcus Clutton (Oldham) and Adrian Dixon (Harpenden).
A record 38 pre-season registrations ensured a capacity entry of 32 cars on the Leicestershire venue’s National circuit. Only JH Motorsport’s James Heffernan (London) was unable to start the race after a gearbox problem in qualifying. CF Racing’s Lloyd scored one bonus point by taking pole position with a time of 1min 08.873s (102.31mph), which put him 0.473s ahead of Double M Racing’s Steele with Quantexe Racing’s Fisher in third.
Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Ollie Hancock (Hook), brother of Le Mans Series racer Sam, also qualified on the second row, while Rossi (Blackburn) and former Eurocup Formula Renault driver Sten Pentus (Faringdon) made up row three. Pearson took the Club Class pole position, in 19th overall, with Dixon and Clutton ahead of Iain Morton (London) in fourth.
As the season’s racing began, it was Pentus who made the early move by climbing two positions to fourth and challenging Fisher’s third place. Lloyd led Steele into the first corner, Redgate and held off the younger driver’s pressure despite a small mistake at the Old Hairpin. Hillspeed Racing’s Ahmad Al Harthy (Hathersage), the first driver to represent Oman in Formula Renault BARC, made up three places while in Club Class, Bob Pearson (Didcot) climbed five spots to 24th at the end of lap one.
Lloyd made the most of the clear track in front of him to open a two-second lead within the first two laps as the early race order took shape. Alpine Racing’s Dean Stoneman (Southampton) dropped two places on the opening lap but was back up to his starting position of 8th by the end of lap two. He then passed Eurotek Motorsport’s David McDonald (Ewell), Worswick Engineering’s Rossi and Falcon Motorsport’s Pentus in successive laps to lie fifth.
Rossi had been looking to take Hancock’s fifth place as the pair entered Redgate on lap four but with the overtaking attempt failing, Stoneman capitalised to demote Rossi to seventh. Hillspeed’s Chris Dittmann (Tewkesbury) climbed four places in as many laps, while Clutton passed Bob Pearson to move in behind Dixon in the battle for the remaining Club Class podium places.
After following Dixon for a lap, Clutton, making his single-seater racing debut, picked his spot at the Old Hairpin to take the place. At the same corner on lap eight of 14, Boulevard Team Racing’s Joshua Brooks (Alford) out-braked himself to drop from 18th to 27th and well out of points-scoring contention. The only retirement of the race came on lap seven when Middle East-Russell Racing’s Essa Mohammed (London) went off the circuit at Coppice.
Pentus’ fine start went to waste on lap seven when, having already run wide to drop two places, the Estonian spun to fall a further five places down the order to 11th. On lap eight, former motorcycle racer Craig Harris (Preston), making his car racing debut for Blackpool and the Fylde College Racing – a team run by the College’s students – passed Bob Pearson for 25th overall and sixth in Club Class.
Rossi and David McDonald were having a see-saw battle for sixth place with both drivers swapping the advantage for four consecutive laps before Rossi claimed the position as his on lap nine. Meanwhile, Stoneman’s rise through the order halted at fifth place as he struggled to find a way past Hancock.
At the head of the field, Lloyd’s lead over Steele, which had been as much as 3.4s after five laps was now down to just 1.7s thanks to Steele setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 11 with a time of 1min 09.626s (101.20mph). Fisher was secure in third place but Stoneman was keen to take fourth and attempted to pass Hancock as the duo lapped a Club Class driver.
Hancock defended his position on that occasion but at the end of lap 13, Hancock ran wide at the exit of the final chicane and over a small bump in the track causing him to spin. Excellent car control saw him right the car instantly but the loss of momentum allowed Stoneman through to finish fourth. Meanwhile, negotiating traffic meant Steele was unable to pressure Lloyd for the win, with the 22-year-old taking victory by 1.596s.
Commenting on the victory, Lloyd said: “I got the good start I wanted and then set about building a lead as quick as possible. I had the car set-up to be quick in the early part of the race and although the tyres started to go off later in the race, I was always in control. It’s a great way to start the season and hopefully it will be the same at Croft. ”
Second-placed Steele said: “Maybe if the race had been a few laps longer it would have been interesting but it wasn’t to be. My tyres took a while to warm up so I spent four or five laps defending rather than attacking for the lead. I’m pleased to have started second and finished second and I set the fastest lap as well but I know there’s more to come. ”
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