News of WRDA members who are competing in the International & Single Seater arena.
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2012 International & Single Seater News News of WRDA members who are competing in the International & Single Seater arena. |
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Seb wins & suffers at Brands Hatch in the Barc Renault Winter Series
Race 1 - win 1 Seb sets his Winter Series off on
the right track
(Photo Jakob Ebrey Photography)
WRDA member
Seb Morris
made an excellent start to the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Winter Series with
Michelin at a Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 20th/21st
October, with victory during round one followed by a top four result in round
two.
Driving his usual Fortec Motorsport Tatus cars Seb ended the first weekend of
the Winter Series just two points shy of the top of the championship, and has a
fantastic chance of securing his third car racing title in as many years when
the championship resumes three weeks from now.
Making a strong start to the weekend, Seb posted the fastest time of the day
during pre-event testing on Friday, 19th October, a remarkable 0.9 seconds clear
at the head of the field. In qualifying though, he had to settle for third on
the grid for both races.
Producing a great start to round one on Saturday afternoon, Seb launched past
the stalled car of Gustav Malja and ran close behind leader Matt Mason for the
first half of the race, the pair trading fastest laps.
Just a second behind Mason going into lap nine, Seb kept the pressure on and
part-way through the lap his rival pushed just a bit too hard and went off the
road – enabling the Fortec driver to sweep past into the lead which he
maintained to the chequered flag on lap 12. Winning by almost eight seconds, he
only just missed out on the bonus points for fastest lap by a mere 0.1 seconds.
“Mason was on the edge from the start, we were both pushing so hard and that
meant the tyre life was very short”, explained the Ginetta Ambassador, “When we
got past lap five or six the tyres completely went off, so I adjusted my driving
and I think that paid off. The main thing with the Winter Series is to finish
all four races, there are no dropped rounds so you can’t afford a bad result.”
Overnight the weather for Sunday’s televised race deteriorated with dreadful,
persistent and worsening rain throughout the day rendering visibility extremely
poor. Seb made another good start, taking second place at Druids on the first
lap, and he proceeded to reel-in leader Mason.
Tucked right up under the rear wing of his rival going into Clearways at the end
of lap one, Mason & Morris went over the finish line side by side in the style
immortalized by Nigel Mansell & Artyon Senna in Jerez all those years ago. The
major difference was that Manselll & Senna were racing on a dry track!
After an edge of the set moment, the Welsh racer managed to cut to the inside
line on the run through Clark Curve and held on into the second tour to grab the
lead. Mason hit back into Druids but Seb immediately returned the favour with a
great pass into the next turn, Graham Hill Bend.
On the run into the left-hander at Surtees though, the slightest of twitches for
his FR 2.0 pitched his car off the circuit in the horrendously slippery
conditions. Recovering in eighth place, Seb mounted a rapid recovery and by the
end of lap three he was in fifth position.
Another unfortunate moment, while pushing to try and take fourth from Michael
Epps, resulted in a spin but Seb again recovered well and climbed back up again,
eventually benifiting from some good fortune, to move into fourth on the last
lap of the race.
“When I was behind Mike Epps I couldn’t see a thing in the spray and I must have
just caught the edge of the kerb which spun me round, I managed to fight back
from there and the car was there for me towards the end.
It’s
unfortunate the way race two turned out but I’m only two points behind going
into Rockingham, so we’re right in the chase.”
Rockingham International Sportscar Circuit, near Corby in Northamptonshire, will
host the decisive third and fourth rounds of the Winter Series on Saturday, 10th
November.
2012
Protyre Formula Renault BARC Winter Series with Michelin Standings (after
Rds1&2):
1st Matt Mason, 56pts;
2nd Seb
Morris, 54pts
Website: www.sebmorris.com
Twitter: @sebmorris31
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/sebmorrisracing
Photo Jakob Ebrey Photography