Lloyd, Meyrick & Jones score on their debuts

Hywel tries hard at Oulton Park

WRDA member Hywel Lloyd got off to a flying start in the first race of The Cooper Tyres British F3 Championship at Oulton Park on Easter Monday. Lloyd, driving the CF Racings’ Dallara F309, with a Mugen Honda engine, tuned by Neil Brown Engineering, started the first of the days 2 races in a lowly 13th place, after a puncture in his left rear tyre slowed him down in the first practice session. However in the race he made up several places at the start to run in 8th place, just behind Irishman Wayne Boyd who had a Volkswagen engine in his Dallara car. Lloyd appeared to have the faster car on the straights, but Boyd resisted all attempts to pass him, by driving defensively in the corners. However Boyd’s resistance began to slow the pace and late in the race Hywel came under attack from Oliver Oakes, but he was easily able to cope with the situation and finished 8th, scoring his first points in International racing. After the race Harry Lloyd, CF Racings’ owner said ‘I am very pleased, you couldn’t ask for better.’ Hywel himself confirmed "Yes I am pleased. I got a good start but then although I was quicker on the straights, I couldn’t get past Boyd. You lose a lot down-force at the front when you start to get close to the car in front. Still it’s nice to get points in our first race. Moving into the International Class is a big step up for us’

Hear Hywel chat about his first race of the 2009 season

Hywel started race 2 in 9th place, but there was no repeat of the first races success as clutch problems meant he could only make a slow getaway which dropped him well down the order, and he had to fight his way up from 16th place. In actual fact he had 2 tries at perfecting his start, after a first corner incident brought out the red flags. However the result was still the same and Hywel had to fight tooth and nail to claw himself back up the order. With points on offer from 10th place onwards, his task was clear cut, and he made some good early progress, eventually latching on to the back of Spanish driver Victor Garcia who was in 10th place. But Garcia was no mood to give up, and resisted all the way to the flag. Hywel tried his best to make a last gasp bid, with the cars crossing the line almost side by side, but he eventually finished in 11th place and out of the points. After the race Hywel summed up " I almost stalled at the start so it was a bit frustrating, but its really difficult to overtake at Oulton Park"

Australian Daniel Ricciardo is the early points leader in The Cooper Tyres British F3 International Series after winning both races. Hywel is in 10th place with 3 points

The next race in the Cooper Tyres British F3 International Series is scheduled for 26th April at Donington Park. It then continues on 03/05/2009 Silverstone, 31/05/2009 Rockingham, 07/06/2009 Hockenheim, 05/07/2009 Snetterton, 25/07/2009 Spa, 16/08/2009 Silverstone, 30/08/2009 Bucharest, 13/09/2009 Algarve, finishing on 20/09/2009 at Brands Hatch

WRDA member Alex Jones from Anglesey was out of luck in the opening rounds of the 2009 Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain at Oulton Park on Easter Monday. Jones, driving an Australian built Spectrum 011C car run by Kevin Mills Racing, was a promising 4^th fastest after the first practice session, but in the first of the weekends races, he was hit from behind and spun around in a first corner incident. However after recovering, he clawed his way up from dead last to finish 12^th and at least score some  points, despite having to cope with a damaged car that was difficult to drive. However race 2 was even more unkind, as Jones’ car was once again hit but this time it was too badly damaged to continue. Afterwards Jones said "It hasn’t turned out to be a great weekend, but testing over the winter went really well. I been in the top 5 and fastest on occasion, so we know we have the pace. I was quite happy with qualifying but I got caught up in 2 first lap incidents. In the first race someone stalled in front of me, I just managed to avoid him but I was clipped and spun right around Still I managed to fight my way up into a points scoring place. In the second I also got hit, but I couldn’t get started again. Still these things happen in racing, and there are over 20 races left to turn it around"

Hear Alex chat about the opening races of the 2009 season

The next race in of the 2009 Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain is scheduled for 26 April at Donington Park. Then 31/05/2009 Rockingham,13/14 June Knockhill, 05/07/2009 Snetterton, 16/08/2009 Silverstone 6 Sept Brands Hatch, 13/09/2009 Algarve, 20/09/2009 Brands Hatch, & ending on 3rd Oct at Castle Combe

Andy also makes a point!

Andy Meyrick endured a trying initiation into the world of endurance racing in the first event in the 2009 LMS series, the 1000k of Catalunya at Barcelona. Andy was driving a diesel powered Audi R10tdi , but before he could take his turn, the car was damaged in a incident with another car, and spent a long time stuck in a gravel track before it could be driven back to the pits. ‘It was like an extended test session from then on, but it was good to get some mileage in the car. My stint was almost 2 hours, so it was good. It wasn’t quite the debut I was hoping for, but at least we scored a point for finishing 8th. However the circuit didn’t quite suit out car, and we have a few test sessions before the next race at Spa, and hopefully we will be more competitive at tracks that are more suitable for our car" Even so Andy did at least finish the race without damaging the car or visiting the scenery; something the other Kolles car could not manage, so at least he and his teammates came away from Spain with some bragging rights as well as the teams first point of the season. Also at Oulton Park Andy was presented with a special WRDA Welsh Young Driver of the Year - Highly Commended Award. Hear Andy talk about his first race in the LMS and the WRDA award

The next race in the season will be in Belgium on 10^th May for the 1000 Km of Spa-Francorchamps, then on 2nd August 1000 Km of Algarve (Night race) 23^rd August 1000 Km of Nürburgring finishing on 13^th September with the 1000 Km of Silverstone

Live Television coverage of the LMS will be on Eurosport &  Coverage of the Formula 3 & Formula Ford Championship will be on Motors TV UK

http://www.hywellloyd.com               http://www.britishf3international.com

 http://www.andymeyrick.com           http://www.lemans-series.com

http://www.alexjonesracing.com       http://www.britishformulaford.co.uk