Seb scores a podium at Donington to end the weekend on a high note! Report & pics by Rob Allender - background Marion Allender

Matt & Seb discuss practice plans (photo by Rob Allender)

Teenage Welsh race ace & WRDA member, Seb Morris got back onto the podium to finish off the weekend at Donington Park, having once again suffered the highs & lows of motor racing. Initially Morris was in a good position after the qualifying sessions on Saturday morning, which were close & tense, see-saw affairs, with Morris heading the timing lists several times, trading places with Scott Malvern, Josh Webster, and David Wagner, his most direct rivals. At the end of the first session Webster, Malvern and Wagner were 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd with Morris 4^th and Keiron Vernon 5^th, but all 5 were covered by only a few 10^ths of  a second! After some frantic work by the Fortec team mechanics, Seb headed out for the 2^nd qualifying session that would set the grid for both races 2 & 3 on Sunday. In an even closer session Seb was 3^rd behind Wagner & Malvern but this time by only 7/100ths of a second! His 2^nd fastest time of the session was even better and good enough to put him back on the front row for the first time in 6 races. Seb commented after qualifing “I am not worried, it would have been nice to get a pole but it was very close, and you can do a lot from where we are!”

Hear Seb discuss the practice sessions

 Race 1 Saturday 18^th August 2012

Round 10 of the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship

 However in the first race on Saturday afternoon at the start, off the staggered grid, Webster & Malvern both made a good start, but David Wagner got bogged down which allowed Seb Morris briefly into 3^rd place. However Keiron Vernon had a good start and demoted Morris to 4^th.  With Webster & Malvern stretching away at the front, it was plain that Morris had to make a move as he was under threat from the 5^th place car of Chris Middlehurst. On lap 8 Morris had Vernon in his sights and was right in his slipstream, and made his move to overtake going into Redgate, the classic first corner at Donnington. Firstly it seemed that Sebs bright orange car had completed the move, but Vernon failed to concede, or allow Morris racing room, and the two cars touched, pitching Morris into the gravel trap and out of the race! However Vernon himself did not profit as he dropped back to finish in 6th place. Morris afterwards had no doubt as to where the blame lay “He drove into me!”  Indeed although in these circumstances, the other driver will have another view point, the bright Orange paint-scheme on Morris’ car can hardly be more conspicuous! However another non score saw Morris drop down to joint 5^th with Kieran Vernon in the overnight points standings, with Macaulay Walsh now 3^rd and David Wagner 4^th but only 5 points covered the 4 drivers,.

Vernon v Morris in the battle of Redgate - photo by Phil Laughton Photography

Race 2 Sunday 19^th August 2012

Round 11 of the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship

With 2 races on Sunday, and all but one of the other drivers in the Fortec squad also having had a poor race on Saturday, it was time for some light relief to lighten the mood and Seb and the others enjoyed a fun session with a Segway 2-wheeled electric buggy! It seemed to work in Morris’ case, because when the lights went green, he made an excellent start and emerged from Redgate in 2^nd place. However one of the backmarkers had stalled and was stuck on the grid. With the car stuck in the middle of the track and unmoveable, the organisers stopped the race with the red flag, to allow the car to be moved away! On the second restart, things didn’t go Sebs way and he was slower off the line and found himself in 5^th place. Although he held 5^th to the end to score some valuable points, this appeared to give him little satisfaction at the time, but he had in fact moved up to 4^th in points standings.  It was time for his family, dad Phillip and mum Victoria, and his support team, mentor Andy Meyrick and driver coach Matt Shawyer, to help focus Sebs’ mind on the final race of the day.

Race 2 Saturday 18^th August 2012

Round 12 of the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship

Starting from 2^nd on the grid beside pole position man, David Wagner, Seb was 2^nd initially but gave way to title chasing Scott Malvern, but also lost a place to Macaulay Walsh, before  re-passing him to take to final podium spot, to the great relief of all, also setting the races fastest lap in process to maximize his points score and move him back up to 4^th in the points standings! Seb explained “I am really happy, returning to the podium this weekend, and setting the fastest lap, is really satisfying. Roll on the next race at Silverstone”

The final 2 races of the season are at Silverstone on 6/7 October

2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship (after Rd 12)

1^st Scott Malvern 324 points. 2^nd Josh Webster 301 pts. 3^rd David Wagner 223 pts.  4^th Seb Morris 208 pts. 5^th Macaulay Walsh 202 pts. 6^th Keiron Vernon 193 pts. 

Andy & Seb chat in between qualifying sessions - note WRDA sticker on Sebs car ! (photo by Rob Allender)

Report by Rob Allender background by Marion Allender

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