AKA Cobra’s Jeremy Metcalfe (Fleet) held off intense pressure from Fortec Motorsport’s Duncan Tappy (West Ewell) to claim his second win of the season in round 10 of the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship at Oulton Park Island circuit on Sunday, 24th June. Metcalfe’s team-mate Adam Christodoulou (Lichfield) came third to replicate the podium from round one at Brands Hatch.
Pole-sitter Dean Smith (Wolverhampton) made a poor start and dropped to seventh on the opening lap as cars swarmed past. Fellow front row starter Metcalfe took full advantage to edge out Tappy on the run to the first corner, Old Hall, on lap one. Eucatex’s Adriano Buzaid (Oxford) remained in third place with Adam Christodoulou rising from seventh on the grid to take fourth.
On cold tyres, Buzaid made a mistake at Knickerbrook chicane, spinning and falling to the rear of the field as Adam Christodoulou took third place. RS Racing’s Richard Singleton (Conwy) held fourth ahead of AKA Cobra’s Nathan Caratti (London) who had passed round nine winner Will Bratt (Banbury) off the start line.
Christodoulou kept the pressure on the leaders with the fastest lap on lap two, while Bratt recovered some ground by passing Caratti for fifth at Knickerbrook. Smith was also looking to make amends but failed to pass Caratti around the outside at Island Hairpin. He did take sixth place on lap three with a late-braking move at Knickerbrook.
In midfield, Borthwick Motorsport’s Ryan Borthwick (Hawick) and Apotex Scorpio Motorsport’s Richard Keen (Amersham) ran side by side through Druids, Borthwick just holding onto 10th place. Meanwhile, now clear of Caratti, Will Bratt was closing in on fourth-placed Singleton.
Before he had a chance to overtake, however, Bratt was caught by the charging Dean Smith. The new Championship leader after round nine on Saturday, Smith wasted little time in taking fifth place with a sweeping pass at Old Hall at the start of lap six.
In midfield, Caratti locked his brakes as he came under pressure from Manor Competition’s Alexander Sims (Peterborough) and Fortec’s Riki Christodoulou (Sutton Coldfield). On the same lap, Fortec’s Ryuji Yamamoto (Northampton) thought about a move on the inside of Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Sho Hanawa (Skegness) at Old Hall but decided to back out as Hanawa covered the overtaking line.
Smith was now setting a new fastest lap on each successive tour, lowering his time even when passing Singleton for fourth place at Lodge corner. On lap nine, Borthwick became the only retirement of the race by spinning at Druids while battling with Keen.
As the race entered its closing stages, Metcalfe and Tappy opened a gap to third-placed Adam Christodoulou, who was being caught rapidly by Smith. On lap 11, Tappy set a new fastest lap only to see it beaten by Smith as he followed a few seconds behind. Smith eventually took the two bonus championship points with a time of 1min 20.112s (100.02mph).
The final three laps saw two absorbing battles with the AKA Cobra cars of Metcalfe and Adam Christodoulou leading the Fortec Motorsport cars of Tappy and Smith respectively. While Metcalfe looked secure in his lead, Christodoulou came under pressure, especially on the penultimate lap as he missed a gear exiting Druids allowing Smith to draw alongside on the run into Old Hall before falling back again.
On the run to the chequered flag, Metcalfe took victory by 0.2s, while Christodoulou took third by the incredibly close margin of 0.051s. Commenting on his victory, Metcalfe said: “I’m really pleased to get the second win and it’s been a long time coming since Brands Hatch. I made a good start and managed to block Duncan out at the first corner. After that it was a case of not making a mistake and defending when I needed to. ”
Second-placed Tappy said: “I was getting very close to the back of Jeremy but I knew Dean was further back so there was no point risking a strong finish with the Championship in mind. My starts have been poor the last few rounds but today was really good and I think I’ve worked out what was wrong. The start is crucial so hopefully now I can get back on track at Donington Park. ”
Third-placed Adam Christodoulou said: “I knew Dean was going to be right with me on the last lap but it didn’t help when I made the mistake with two laps to go. I had to fight hard to fend him off and I’m still shaking now! From about halfway I was counting down the laps and I’m really happy to get back on the podium. ”
Smith now leads the drivers’ standings by four points from Tappy. Rounds 11 and 12 take place at Donington Park National circuit on 14th/15th July. Before the next race meeting there is a one-day official Formula Renault UK test at Brands Hatch on Tuesday, 3rd July.
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