MORRIS BACK TO WINNING WAYS WITH
SUPREME ASSEN VICTORY
Report by Marc Orme -
Photos from Assen by Insight F1 Motorsport
Report
WRDA
member & aspiring FIA Formula One racer
Seb Morris returned to winning ways in style at
Assen in The Netherlands on Sunday, 3rd August,
with a supreme victory in round 11 of the
Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup (NEC).
Having only just missed out on the podium during
the weekend’s opening encounter at the Dutch
track on Saturday, 2nd August, with a fighting
fourth place, the Caterham Racing Academy
youngster eased to a huge 7.5 second winning
margin in race two and also posted the fastest
lap of the race.
Marking the second win of Seb’s maiden season in
European-level competition, the Assen results
mean the 18-year-old from Marford has climbed
back into the championship top five from eighth
in the standings prior to the fifth race meeting
of the season.
(photo - Seb pick up the cup & a salad)
“After a very disappointing weekend at Spa, we
went back to square one”, said the Welshman,
“The car was supposed to go straight to Assen
but we got it back to the factory in the UK,
stripped it down and found some issues with the
dampers as well as the steering problem we had
at Spa.“Going into this weekend we were more
confident and the car felt fantastic. We’ve cut
the points deficit we had in half so, if we can
keep this level of performance going, we could
still have a chance of the championship. After
the bad luck we’ve had, though, I’m aiming for
top three.”
Seb leads the
field!
Seb added: “I’ve really enjoyed Assen, it’s a
fantastic track with so much heritage and the
Dutch spectators really know their racing. There
has been a great atmosphere from the huge crowd
and that really helps to spur you on, winning
race two was the icing on the cake.”
Qualifying on pole position for Sunday’s race by
a huge margin of almost 0.5 seconds, the Jack
Wills ‘Young Briton’, TAG Heuer ambassador and
Elite Cymru-backed youngster unfortunately
slipped behind Ben Barnicoat off the line but
moved into the lead on lap two when his Fortec
Motorsport team-mate was forced into retirement.
Instantly opening up a healthy advantage at the
front, Seb was around five seconds to the good
by mid-distance and eased to a 7.5 second
victory on lap 16 after a faultless drive in
front of no fewer than 80,000 spectators.
“Ben got me off the line and we were set for a
good race, then he had his mechanical problem
and that made things much easier for me”,
commented Seb, “After that, I was able to just
drive away and I could do what I wanted with the
car. Winning by almost eight seconds was
fantastic.”
For round 10 on Saturday he started fourth on
the grid, having qualified less than 0.3 seconds
shy of pole position. Remaining there throughout
during a very uneventful contest, Seb took the
chequered flag just 0.5 seconds adrift of the
podium.
Next on the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC calendar is
a visit to Most in the Czech Republic over the
weekend 30th/31st August – the penultimate race
meeting of the 2014 season – where Seb will be
aiming to capitalise on his current form and put
further pressure on the championship leaders
during the all-important triple-header.
Seb is part of the
Caterham Racing Academy and is
supported by the
Jack Wills ‘Young Briton’, progaramme, is a TAG Heuer
ambassador and Elite Cymru
supported driver.
http://necup.com/
Provisional 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European
Cup Standings (
after
11 of 16 rounds):
1st Louis Deletraz, 184 points
2nd Steijn
Schothorst 183 pts
3rd Ben Barnicoat, 180
pts
4th Gustav Malja, 147 pts
5th Seb Morris,
145 pts
6th Callan
O'Keeffe, 144 pts
7th Ukyo
Sasahara, 141 pts
8th Ryan
Tveter, 117 pts
9th Jake
Hughes, 112pts
10th Levin
Amweg, 107 pts
The Car .
Formula Renault 2.0 - Edition 2013
Front Suspension: Pushrod mono damper Barazi
Epsilon
Rear Suspension: Pushrod twin
dampers Barazi Epsilon
Chassis: FR2.0/13 by Tatuus
Bodywork: Full Carbon by Tatuus
Gearbox gears and differential:
Sadev - 7 ratios / Limited slip differential
Gearbox command: Electric by XAP
(Solenoid)
Dampers: ZF Race Engineering 2
ways
Steering wheel: XAP with
paddleshift
Rims: Team Dynamics, Front 9",
Rear 10"
Tyres: Michelin 20-54x13 /
24-57x13
Brake System: Caparo AP Braking
(4 pistons callipers)
Clutch: Twin discs sinter clutch
by ZF Race Engineering
Engine: Renault Sport
Type: F4R 832 - 1998 cm3
Power: 210 BHP
Engine Max Torque: 220 Nm
Engine Max revs: 7500 rpm
Safety: FIA F3 2012 norms except
Zylon panels
Weight: 505 kg
Formula Renault 2.0 -
Edition 2012
Chassis
Type: Carbon-fibre Monocoque, full
carbon bodywork
Engine
Type F4R – 4 cylinders – 16 valves – 1998 cc
Bore x stroke (mm): 82.7 x 93
Maximum power: 144 (196) Bhp at 7000 rpm
Maximum torque: 222 Nm (21.6 mkg) at 4750 rpm
Transmission
Sequentially controlled, dog-clutch box with 6
forward gears, changeable ratios
Self-locking differential
