4th Podium of the season puts Seb back in the frame for title fame!  by Marc Orme & Rob Allender

WRDA member Seb Morris made a welcome return to the podium at the Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk over the weekend, 15th/16th June, with his fourth rostrum visit of the 2013 season during round seven of the campaign. On a weekend of high drama, and with several drivers punished for a range of indiscretions, Seb, who is still only 17 years old, added two further top four results in rounds eight and nine on Sunday to climb back into the championship top three – just 18 points shy of the regaining lead!

 “We were bang on the pace, in Friday testing , so  we are definitely moving in the right direction with the car”, commented Seb who is balancing his driving with his studies at Abbey Gate College, “We’re still playing catch-up a bit with our lack of seat time compared to the others, we just need some more testing and we’ll be properly on it”

 Qualifying on Saturday morning was affected by rain and as the track got quicker towards the end of the session, the times at the front were incredibly tight – Seb ending the session sixth fastest but only 0.4 seconds shy of pole position. Making a great start to round seven, Seb blasted into the top three and ran close behind Matt Bell before the latter went off the circuit on the third tour – promoting Seb into second place. Although slipping to third position on lap five, he remained there to make a welcome return to the podium.

 Lining-up in sixth place on the ‘reverse grid’ for round eight on Sunday morning, Seb challenged for fifth at the start on the outside at Riches before the action was halted by red flags on lap 2 after a  multi-car tangle.

 At the restart over a shortened distance of eight laps, Seb ran in fourth place throughout and had to work hard to fend off challenges from Jake Hughes and Charlie Robertson, which he did to the finish to secure another strong haul of points.  “I got a fairly hefty whack at the first corner, which damaged the car, but I managed to bring it home in 4th

 Beginning round nine in fifth place, Seb  immediately grabbed fourth into Riches after a great launch from the third row of the grid but was elbowed back to fifth shortly after. Shuffled down to sixth, as he battled initially with a lack of grip, Seb got into his stride from mid-distance and piled on the pressure to championship rival Jake Dalton.

 Although remaining in sixth to the chequered flag on lap 10, Seb was later elevated two positions in the final classification when the race winner and second placed competitor were excluded after post-race scrutinering.

 “We definitely scored some good points this weekend, which is what we need to keep doing”, said Seb, “We need to keep moving forward and we aim to be fighting for pole position at Oulton Park in a few weeks’ time. It’s the home round for me, so I’m really looking forward to it and hoping to try and take our first win of the season.”