Formula Renault UK - News
06/09/2010
Knockhill Rounds 15 & 16 Formula Renault UK
Lynn Closes on Graduate Title, Blomqvist Closes on Championship Leader and Christo Finds Form for Podium.
The team's visit to the furthest track from their home in Daventry was welcomed by bright sunshine, much to their surprise given the reputation that Knockhill has for its weather. With hardly any of the grid having been to the circuit before it would be interesting to see which drivers could adapt to the circuit quickest. As it turned out, Tom Blomqvist set the early pace in testing, with his teammates Lynn and Christo both showing strong form. For qualifying day we awoke to see another bright sunny day and the car showing a good turn of pace. The drivers entered the first session confident of a good result. With the nature of the short narrow circuit it was essential to find space to put in strong lap times. This proved to be difficult and when a red flag came out with 4 minutes to go neither Blomqvist nor Lynn had set a time at all! However with the session resumed both got their heads down and produced competitive lap times, with Tom on pole, Christo lining up 3rd and Lynn coming in 6th, continuing his strong form. Second qualifying again went well for Lynn who matched his best qualifying of the season setting the 4th best time. Tom got piped for pole and finished 2nd, and Christo couldn't match his morning's form, slipping to 8th in the tightly fought series.
Round 15
For the first time all weekend rain clouds darkened the sky, but for once they missed the circuit and allowed the racing to go ahead on a bone dry track. Tom Blomqvist got away well from pole as did Christo and Lynn from their grid spots but, come the end of the first lap; honours were even with all the drivers coming around in the places they had started. This was until an optimistic move from Manor's Williamson caused an accident at the last corner which unfortunately for Lynn couldn't be avoided! And from this he had to pit to get a spare front wing. The safety car was deployed so the mess could be cleaned up. When the race resumed Tom made a good getaway soon setting the fastest lap for 2 bonus points. As it turned out this was a new lap record. Christo had to defend from a charging Tinknell: he was more than a match for his advances even though he was nursing a flat spotted tyre, and he came in 3rd for his first podium this year. Lynn recovered to come a hair's breadth from claiming the fastest lap. Meanwhile David Mcdonald came through the field to finish 9th; a good result from where he started.
Round 16
Coming in to the second race of the weekend Tom Blomqvist had closed to 4 points the gap with the championship leader and placed himself second in the series. From second on the grid he was looking to take the lead coming out of this race; however this was not to be. After a good start he was out of position trying to wrestle the lead around the outside when he was forced wide and dropped to 6th. Lynn capitalised to move up to 3rd; however, he unfortunately ran wide trying to get a run to take 2nd and dropped to 4th. Riki got himself involved in a scrap midfield, and with the hustle and bustle of this they dropped back a bit from the fight up front. Another safety car was deployed which bunched the race up, and on the first lap after the restart Williamson again made an optimistic move, this time on Lynn, who had to yield to avoid an accident. This allowed Blomqvist through but Williamson continued his robust driving by continually weaving in front of him to prevent him from passing! So the race finished with Blomqvist in 5th, Lynn 6th and Riki losing out when he got run off the track to come home 14th, a disappointment after the first race podium.
The next meeting is with the World Series by Renault at the new Silverstone Arena circuit on 19th September.
23/08/2010
Rounds 5, 13 & 14 Formula Renault UK
Blomqvist Bags a Brace of victories
The weekend started damp for all the drivers where once again overnight rain played its part in the first test and as it turned out the first qualifying session. All this meant was it was a last man out scenario as the track was drying fast, the fist session was good for two of Fortec's drivers as Tom Blomqvist ended up 3rd, with none of his championship protagonists near the front and Riki Christo lining up 4th. Alex Lynn who was the pacesetter at the beginning of the session got caught out on his last lap with traffic that cost him and put him 14th! And David McDonald suffered a similar fait and wound up 12th. The second session was held on a perfectly dry track, so the team was hopeful of a repeat of Friday testing where Tom Blomqvist was the pacesetter, after a few laps of finding traffic, he found some clear road and set about his task in style putting in the fastest time. Leading Graduate cup Contender Alex Lynn put in a seasons best of 4th only 1 tenth off of Pole position, Riki losing out to 9th in the tightly fought session and David in 16th when he suffered rear suspension woes.
Re-Run of Round 5
This was the re-run of the postponed round 5 from Brands Hatch which was rained off earlier in the year, Fortec's cars lining up 7th (Blomqvist), 12th (Lynn), and 15th (McDonald). The opening laps saw both McDonald and Lynn jump up the order inside the top 10 while Blomqvist moved to 6th to put immense pressure on Manors Hylkema for 5th, this pressure led to a move set up in Brooklands and carried into Luffield. The move was done when the Manor driver turned into Tom to put them both on the grass! Recovering to the pits to change his front win Tom went back out to claim the fastest lap, a new lap record, and the two points that go with it. This left Alex Lynn in 6th a seasons best and he put Millroy under pressure for the rest of the race, but unfortunately couldn't get close enough to get by, never the less marked the improvement seen this weekend from the up and coming star. David as well came in 8th pushing 7th place all the way to the flag, a good result from his starting place.
Round 13
For the third day in a row overnight rain had come, with the sun out and a fast drying track the whole grid lined up on slicks on the damp track in the knowledge that it would soon dry. Tom got a clean getaway from the damp grid to slot into second around the first corner, Riki in fourth; Lynn made a storming getaway jumping between the cars that had started the row in front. Stevens didn't relinquish his ground and they made contact in turn one dropping them both to the tail of the field! At the end of the first lap Riki spun trying to get third place only to get collected by a following competitor which sadly put him out. Tom meanwhile got a run out of the first corner to claim the lead, as he was pulling away the safety car was sent out so the stricken cars could be recovered. After a very stong opening two laps David's bad luck struck again with his car developing a power loss that dropped him from an impressive seventh to the tail of the field, Tom set off to gain a gap when the safety car came in, unfortunately this didn't happen and he had to fend off three other cars for the entire encounter! This he did in style to claim the first win of the season for himself and for the Fortec formula Renault UK team.
Round 14
Starting from pole this time Blomqvist made a good start and led the field through turn 1, with Lynn slotting into 5th after Yelloly made a good start to come around him, however an overly ambitious move in Brooklands from Tinknell ruined the race for Lynn and Yelloly spinning all three to the tail of the pack. Meanwhile David made a fabulous move up the pack around Luffield to move him into the top ten from 16th on the grid. Tom got his head down in the first laps to pull a cushion to the chasing cars, and he got a gap that he could manage for the rest of the encounter, the chasing cars swapped places and Williamson started to close the gap to Tom, but he reacted to this and drew away again in the closing laps to take his second win on the bounce. This brace of wins has taken Tom to twenty points of the championship lead, a gap he and the team are looking to close further in the coming races.
The team is now in preparations for their trip to Scotland Knockhill circuit for rounds 15 & 16 on September 5th.
08/08/2010
Rounds 11 & 12 Formula Renault UK
Tom Blomqvist closes the gap in the championship race.
This weekend saw Blomqvist, son of rally legend Stig, close another 6 points closer to the championship leader with a 2nd position in the second race of the weekend. Meanwhile Alex Lynn took the honors in both races in the graduate cup category stretching his lead. The weekend saw a tough start for all the drivers with heavy crosswinds affecting the balance of their Caparo built cars, overnight rain added to the difficulties going into first qualifying, a resulting 6th for Tom, 11th for Riki, 13th for Alex and 16th for David. The second session was held in clear dry conditions, however a threatening cloud was looming, this held off till seconds after the chequered flag! An impressive performance landed Tom on P2 for the second encounter, an improved McDonald lined up 10th with Riki in 11th and Alex 14th.
Race 1
The weather had improved considerable coming into the Sunday for the races, the opening lap saw tom lose out to Williamson into the first corner, but a well executed move saw him regain the place into turn 2 around the outside. Riki moved into the top ten with Alex Lynn in 11th, David was battling hard to move up the field having taken 3 cars on the opening lap, unfortunately an aggressive defensive move robbed him of his front wing and with it dangling dangerously a pitstop for the spare was required dropping him to the tail of the field. Meanwhile Tom was attacking fellow championship protagonist Tinknell for 5th trying twice to find a way by at the esses, unfortunately the second time Williamson got a run on Tom to seize the position back from him. Tom wound up 7th with Alex leading home the graduate contenders in 11th, David recovered to 14th and Riki retired with a throttle problem.
Race 2
The temperature had rose above the 20 degree mark for what felt like the first time all weekend, the start saw all our drivers make good getaways Tom holding on to second, David moving to 9th with riki right behind, and Alex up to 12th, with Millroy on his tail Tom concentrated on defence in the opening laps allowing the leader to get away at the front, David again fell foul of the same driver from race one, spinning him around to the back of the field, this promoted both Riki and Alex. After the first laps Tom set about reeling the leader in setting some impressively fast and consistent laps, unfortunately not enough time was left in the encounter for him to catch the leader. So second was his reward and another few points to shrink the gap to the championship lead, Riki finished a solid 9th, Alex again lead the graduate cup to extend his lead in the standings, David again recovering to 14th from his misfortunes.
The team is now well underway with preparations to move forward coming into rounds 13 and 14 at Silverstone, which also includes the missed round 5 from Brands Hatch which was rained off.
02/08/2010
FORTEC RE-SIGNS CHRISTO, Fortec Motorsport is delighted to announce the return of Riki Christodoulou to their Renault line up. He will bring with him strong experience and his talents will undoubtedly strengthen the driver line-up. He joins current drivers Tom Blomqvist, son of rally legend Stig, Alex Lynn who currently heads the graduate cup standings and second year driver David MacDonald.
12/02/2010
Alex Lynn signs for Fortec's Formula Renault team.
Top Karter Alex Lynn 16 is Fortec Motorsports first Formula Renault signing.
Alex will contest the 2010 UK Formula Renault championship in the all new Caparo Epsilon Racecar.
His testing pace has been very impressive, Oulton Park on a wet track Alex was a full second quicker than anyone, he also impressed at Snetterton setting very competitive wet times.
He has adapted very well to the new car, it has the new F1 style paddle shift system, larger tyres, more grip and more downforce than the 2009 Tatuus Formula Renault.
Official testing starts on the 2nd March at Brands Hatch where Alex will be going all out to be at the top of the timesheets.
30/08/2009
The UK Formula Renault team enjoyed another good weekend at Silverstone. James Calado taking both race wins from pole position, setting both fastest race laps and also setting another lap record, Oli Webb missing out on the lap record by just 8 thousandths of a second.
Oli starting third in the first race managed to get passed a poor starting Fredrik Blomstedt to take 2nd putting pressure on James throughout the race eventually finishing 2nd to James by less than a second.
Oli in the 2nd race started poorly due to the slippery conditions dropping down to 5th, then whilst trying to pass Stoneman for 4th they touched and Oli spun.
Oli then was demoted to the back of the field, fighting his way up trading fastest laps with James to eventually finish 7th.
Fredrik had a poor start in the first race from 2nd position and dropped back down the field to finish 8th. In the 2nd race Fredrik started 11th and finished 12th. Will Stevens had a bit of a mixed weekend, starting 9th in the first race making reasonable progress managed to get caught up in Josh Scotts accident demoting him to 12th.
In the second race Will started 8th and managed a 10th place in the very slippery conditions.
The next Race is at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby where Oli and James will be looking to push Dean Smith for the top place in the Drivers championship.
05/07/2009
The Fortec Motorsport Formula Renault UK team enjoyed a highly successful weekend at the Silverstone World Series by Renault meeting. A crowd of over 150,000 spectators saw the team score 3 podium places over the weekend including a win for Oliver Webb and a pair of second-place finishes for James Calado. One qualifying session was used to decide the starting positions for the weekend's two races with Fredrik Blomstedt 3rd and 10th, Will Stevens 8th and 3rd, James Calado 2nd and 1st, and Oliver Webb 6th and 2nd on the grid. Race 1 saw James Calado finish in 2nd position with Webb 5th, Stevens 7th, and Blomstedt in 9th position. Race 1 would also see James Calado record a new lap record for the category around the Silverstone GP circuit. In Race 2, it was a Fortec one-two with Oliver Webb leading home James Calado followed by Will Stevens in 6th and Blomstedt 14th after suffering a technical problem. James Calado, Will Stevens, and Oliver Webb will now travel to Le Mans with the Fortec Formula Renault Eurocup team before the next UK race at Snetterton (1+2 August)
17/05/2009
The Formula Renault UK event at Donington Park was host to another good race weekend for the Fortec team with a win for James Calado in Race 2 and a 3rd place for Oli Webb. Calado missed out on pole for Race 1 by 1/1000 second but would finish the race at the bottom of the order after being pushed wide in the fight for 2nd place. Oli Webb qualified 4th and 8th for the two races, finishing 3rd in Race 1 and 5th in Race 2 promoting him to 2nd in the drivers championship ahead of James Calado in 3rd. Fredrik Blomstedt had a successful Race 1, qualifying 11th and racing his way to 6th. After qualifying 14th for Race 2, a first-corner incident would see the Swede demoted to the back of the field before recovering to take 17th place. Will Stevens had a solid weekend qualifying 11th and 12th and finishing both races in 11th position.
26/04/2009
The Formula Renault UK team continued their success with strong pace throughout the super-fast Thruxton event. Qualifying 1 took place on a damp, drying track with Will Stevens setting an impressive 2nd fastest lap followed by Fredrik Blomstedt in 3rd position, both on wet tyres. James Calado, on slick tyres, managed a respectable 5th place grid-slot with Oli Webb over-heating his wet tyres to finish the session in 9th place. A dry but windy Qualifying 2 saw Calado put his car on pole-position for Race 2 with Webb 6th, Blomstedt 9th, and Will Stevens 19th, all within 8/10 second of the pole-time of Calado. Race 1 started ideally for Calado, taking the lead from the start and ensuring a significant gap with Will Stevens 3rd behind Krohn. Oli Webb progressed from 6th on the grid to 9th in the race but a battle with Josh Scott would see him pushed wide at Church corner and finishing the race in 12th position. Race 2 saw a series of unfortunate events for the Fortec team with Calado retiring with a gear-cable failure, Webb suffering a puncture before finishing 5th, and spin for Stevens seeing him complete the race in 21st position after holding P10 on the track for much of the distance.
07/04/2009
The Formula Renault UK team made a great start to the 2009 season with two fantastic wins and a very well deserved second place at Brands Hatch. Qualifying 1 started wet but dried out right at the end of the session with Oli Webb making the best of the difficult conditions with second on the grid. Although setting the fastest second sector, James Calado could only manage 5th due to being held up at Paddock and Druids.
Will Stevens and Fredrik Blomstedt were the first to get the flag, taking 9th and 12th slots on the grid respectively. A dry Qualifying 2 session saw James Calado on pole and Fredrik Blomstedt second beside him. Oli Webb and Will Stevens qualified 10th and 11th, a result of small mistakes on their best flying laps. Oli Webb made a reasonable start to Race 1 but could not keep Oakes from passing him, however a dive up the inside of a battling Oakes and Tinknell for the lead at Druids saw Webb take the lead and was never challenged again, taking his first UK win and setting a new lap record in the process. Calado drove a very conservative race, coming home in 5th position and taking valuable points. Blomstedt, starting from 12th on the grid but suffered a spin while in 11th place before recovering to finish 12th. Will Stevens drove a solid race to finish where he started the race in 9th position. A lights to flag victory for Calado in Race 2 was only slowed temporarily by a safety-car period with Fredrik Blomstedt takinjg a solid 2nd place behind him, holding off a strong Jesse Krohn thoughout the the race.
06/02/2009
Fortec Motorsport is pleased to announce that Kevin Kleveros will join the team to contest the 2009 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. Seventeen year-old Kleveros, who contested the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup last year has previously tested with the team during winter 2007 will also enter selected rounds of the West European Cup with the team.
Kleveros (Sweden) will form part of a four-car line up for the European arm of Fortec Motorsport's highly-successful Formula Renault 2.0 team which ran 2007 UK championship runner-up Dean Smith, Alex Morgan, Daniel McKenzie, and Gabriel Dias during the 2008 season.
Fortec team principal, Richard Dutton commented "It's great to have Kevin join the team for the 2009 season after a gaining experience in the car during last year's NEC. Kevin settled in well with the team during his test programme in 2007 so we're looking forward to working with him in the Eurocup this year".
Speaking about his new team and prospects for the season, Kleveros said "I'm really happy to be a part of this successful team for 2009. I'm sure that we will be competitive in the Eurocup as well as the WEC. I'm looking forward to starting testing and working with the team so we can be as prepared as possible".
25/11/2008
Following his series win in the Formula Renault UK Winter Cup, Fortec Motorsport and Racing Steps Foundation driver James Calado added the title of 2008 Portugal Winter Series FR2.0 champion to his series of achievements from the year. The series, held at Jerez and Estoril circuits during November saw drivers and teams from both the UK and Eurocup series' compete together.
01/11/2008
Fortec Motorsport and Racing Steps Foundation driver James Calado left Croft circuit in the lead of the Formula Renault UK Winter Cup after securing first and second position finishes and the fastest lap in each of the two races. James overcame the difficult conditions at Croft circuit and a strong challenge from Henry Surtees (Manor Competition) throughout the weekend to take the lead going into the second of the two events at Rockingham this weekend (08/11)
08/06/2008
2 Wins, 2 Fastest Laps, 2 Pole Positions, 1 Lap Record, and a Driver Of The Day Award. This was how the Fortec Formula Renault UK team finished their weekend at the World Series by Renault meeting at Silverstone.
Adriano Buzaid set the two fastest laps in qualifying to take pole position in each of the races with
James Calado having his best qualifying so far with two second place starting positions. Riki Christodoulou qualified well to start fourth in both races with Oli Webb setting impressive times to qualify seventh for both races.
Buzaid led both races from start to finish, winning the first race by 2.5 seconds and setting the fastest lap of the race with a new lap record. James Calado followed in third position with Riki Christodoulou fourth and Oli Webb twelfth after a spin.
In Race 2, it was Buzaid on the top step of the podium again, this time by 8 seconds, picking up the 'Driver Of The Day' award along the way. Oli Webb would finish an excellect sixth while an incident between Riki Christodoulou and James Calado saw Riki sustain a puncture after contact between the two Fortec cars. James went on to finish ninth while Riki pitted to replace the damaged tyre before returning to the track to set the fastest lap of the race.
26/11/2007
Following three days of competitive tests, eighteen year-old James Calado from Pershore, Worcestershire, is to take the Racing Steps Foundation (RSF) backed Fortec Motorsport seat in the 2008 Formula Renault UK Championship. In a very close contest against four top racers, Calado, a former Martin Hines ‘Young Gun', won the opportunity after succeeding first in a race simulator session at Fortec Motorsport then at a two-day track test at Rockingham involving runners-up Tom Arme and Matthew Hamilton.
"This has been a very revealing exercise on a number of levels. We have seen some remarkable talent both on the V1 simulator at Fortec, and at Rockingham. The final decision was agonising as all three were so close, but in James we feel we have the right combination of talents: speed, car control, valuable engineering feed-back and personal chemistry." said RSF Ambassador John Surtees MBE:
Calado, who had barely sat in a single-seater car before this week, impressed the RSF consultants and the Fortec Motorsport team with his all round capability. "The transition from karts to Formula Renault is a giant step," said Richard Dutton, Team Owner of Fortec Motorsport. "But James managed it in just two days of testing to the extent he narrowly saw off the opposition. With the Racing Steps Foundation, we have an exciting year ahead."
For 2008 the RSF will help a small number of young drivers at three levels: Karting, Formula Renault UK, and Formula 3. The Racing Steps Foundation believes it will enable these drivers to progress up the racing ladder instead of having to abandon their ambitions because of a lack of funds.
16/10/2007
Fortec's Formula Renault squad ended its 2007 season on a high by securing the Formula Renault UK Drivers Championship title. Duncan Tappy and Dean Smith went into the final round of the series seperated by just seven points. Duncan took a win and fastest lap in race one, enough to secure the title. With one race remaining it was a great result for the remainder of the Fortec drivers with Riki Christodoulou taking his first Formula Renault win and Ryuji Yamamoto taking his highest finish – an impressive 5th place.
From the twenty races this season, Fortec Motorsport scored 35 podium finishes including 13 wins and taking the Entrants title with 1078 points ahead of AKA Cobra (786 points) and Apotex Scorpio (621 points).
13/09/2007
The Fortec Formula Renault UK team had it's best ever weekend at Donington Park and made history at the same time by becoming the first team to clinch 1-2-3 finishes for both races of the day. The weekend also saw Duncan Tappy take two pole positions and a fastest lap, the other going to Fortec team'mate Dean Smith. This confirmed Fortec's Entrants Championship title with three races remaining on the calendar.
The results were the same for both races with Duncan Tappy winning followed by Riki Christodoulou and Dean Smith. In both races Riki made Duncan work hard for his win but it was Dean Smith that had the biggest battle to get his trophy. In race one Dean started from third with Alexander Sims managing to pass him through the first corner. Dean pushed hard and by the mid-point of the race regained his position after what has been described as the best racing of the season. From there he couldn't pass Riki but put in the fastest lap of the race.
Race two had the same 1-2 for Duncan and Riki, with Riki pushing even harder and crossing the line just over a second behind the new Championship leader. Starting from fourth, Dean Smith again battled with Sims for third place on the opening lap. This time Dean came out ahead but in the process lost part of his front wing giving him handling problems for the remainder of the race. He hung on to third and the Fortec trio made history as they crossed the line.
No other team can challenge Fortec for the team honours but the Driver's Championship is still open with two races at Thruxton to decide the title. Duncan Tappy currently has a seven point advantage on Dean Smith but with a maximum of 68 points left it could easily go to either of them.
Dave Moore, Team Manager
"I'm really pleased for the whole team. We've worked very hard and it's great to have a result that rewards everyone's efforts. All of the drivers have conducted themselves extremely well both on and off track and that combined with the hard work from the engineers and mechanics has paid off."
29/07/2007
ANOTHER FORTEC 1,2 at Snetterton
The Formula Renault team had another great result at the weekend. Duncan Tappy winning both races after qualifying 1st and 2nd.
Dean Smith also qualified on the front row but too much grip on pole position caused him to bog down at the start and lose places, he fought his way back to 11th place, in the second race Dean set the fastest lap of the race finishing less than a second behind Duncan. Ryuji starting from 14th in both races wasn't his best qualifying to date but to fight his way up to 7th and 9th in each of the races should have given him driver of the day.
Riki's qualifying was good with a 3rd and a 4th in each of the races. In race 1 he got hit by Alex Sims into the esses which punctured his tyre and put him out of the race. In race 2 he had a great start and was leading the race until a missed gear caused him to drop to back into the pack, he rubbed wheels with Will Bratt and damaged his suspension, and wasn't able to carry on.
We have a test on the 8th August at the super fast Thruxton circuit then on to Brands Hatch on the 18th 19th August to see if we can extend our championship lead.
18/07/2007
The Fortec Formula Renault team enjoyed a successful Donington weekend starting with two pole positions from Dean Smith. Duncan Tappy qualified 3rd and 4th with Riki Christo 4th and 3rd in each of the races. Ryuji Yamamoto did a good job, putting his car 11th and 15th on the grid.
The first race started in very heavy rain with Dean dropping a place to Alex Sims. The race was then stopped after 4 laps and the results declared final with Dean finishing 2nd followed closely by Riki and Duncan who swapped positions on the opening lap.
Race 2 lasted 11 laps until it was red flagged, again due to weather conditions with Dean taking the win by 5 seconds. Duncan finished 2nd on the road but because of the countback was classified 3rd setting the fastest lap by two-tenths of a second. Riki ran wide at Coppice and touched Paul Rees's stricken car that was beeched on the kerb, damaging his car too much to continue. Ryuji went off in the very greasy conditions attempting to overtake.
The next race is at Snetterton on the 29th July where we will be looking to be on the top step of the podium once again.
05/06/2007
The Formula Renault team recently enjoyed another 1,2,3 at the super quick Thruxton race circuit.
Qualifying went well with Fortec drivers lining-up 1st,2nd,4th, and 9th on the grid for Race 1. Dean Smith won the first race with Riki Christo and Duncan Tappy following him home. Ryuji Yamamoto was hit by another racer at the chicane, damaging the suspension although he was able to continue and finish 16th. Qualifying for Race 2 also went well for the team with Dean Smith starting 2nd and Duncan Tappy in 3rd, Smith missing out on pole position by less than a one-tenth of a second. A mistake in Qualifying 2 left Riki Christo 8th on the grid in front of Ryuji in 9th. Race 2 was won by a very jubilant Dean with Duncan in 2nd place. Riki made a flying start from 8th but put a wheel off the track, forcing him to the rear of the field. He then raced hard to finish 11th setting the fastest rookie lap of the race. Contact between Ryuji and another racer, forcing him to pit and retire from the race. A strong weekend with high points finishes puts Fortec in the lead of the championship with Duncan leading, followed closely by Dean in second.
24/04/2007
FORTEC 1,2,3. The Formula Renault team enjoyed a very successful weekend at Rockingham with a 1-2 in the first race and a 1-2-3 in the second race with both races won by Duncan Tappy.
1st Qualifying went well with Dean Smith on pole, Duncan second and Riki Christo 3rd, the top three being over two-tenths clear of the 4th place driver Jeremy Metcalfe (AKA).
2nd qualifying was much of the same but with Duncan on pole followed by Riki and Dean, all three being clear by nearly three-tenths of a second. Ryuji Yamamoto had a better second qualifying session starting from an impressive 9th place.
The Fortec cars dominated both Rockingham races and also set fastest laps. The team now looks forward to the next round at the ultra-fast Thruxton circuit in Hampshire.
01/04/2007
The Formula Renault team made a great start to the season taking a win and several strong points finishes during the first race weekend of the year at Brands Hatch.
Saturday Qualifying went well with a pole position and a second place for Duncan Tappy, missing the top slot by five-hundredths of a second. Riki Christodoulou managed 2nd and 5th in only his first Formula Renault qualifying sessions. Dean Smith secured 5th and 6th place grid slots for the two races only eight-hundredths from qualifying third. Ryuji Yamamoto, with very limited testing at Brands Hatch managed a respectable 10th and 15th place.
In the two races, Duncan took a 2nd place in Race 1 before winning Race 2 with Dean 3rd and 4th. Riki took 4th and 7th place finishes with Ryuji 11th in Race 2 after failing to finish the first race when he damaged his car while avoiding a spinning competitor at the start.
04/03/2007
The Fortec Formula Renault team are pleased to announce their drivers for the 2007 season with Riki Christodoulou, Dean Smith, Duncan Tappy, and Ryuji Yamamoto completing the line-up. Christodoulou joins Fortec as a newcomer to the series with Smith and Tappy competing in their second Formula Renault UK seasons.
Ryuji Yamamoto comes to the team as part of the Nissan Driver Development program after competing in Japan last year.
16/11/2006
Fortec Motorsport Formula Renault UK driver Sam Bird has been selected as one of the finalists for the coveted McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award. The six finalists will need to impress a panel of motor racing experts via a series of tests in three thrilling racing cars all demanding different skills and disciplines. These are the 3.5 Litre 450Bhp World Series by Renault, 450bhp rear wheel drive Mercedes Benz DTM, and the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car. Further evaluation will take place during a series of interviews at McLaren's Technology Centre. The winner of this prestigious award will be announced at a star-studded dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on December 3rd. Everyone at Fortec wishes Sam well at this exciting time in his career.
16/10/2006
The Formula Renault team concluded their season at Silverstone this weekend. Fortec won the Formula Renault UK Teams Championship with Sebastian Hohenthal winning the Drivers Championship and Fabio Onidi taking the Graduate Cup title.
10/09/2006
The Fortec Formula Renault Team dominated once again as Sam Bird and Sebastian Hohenthal won Rounds 15 and 16 at Donington Park. Sam Bird also set a new lap record of 1 minute 29.3 during Race 1. Due to a clash with Paddy Hogan at the first corner of race 1, Sebastian Hohenthal was excluded from the first race results but due to his pace and Race 2 win, he only dropped 1 point from the Championship leader. Fabio Onidi finished 8th and 9th on the road claiming second in the Graduate Cup in each race. James Sutton finished 10th in the first race but suffered a puncture after a clash with Pippa Mann during Race 2. The next rounds of the Championship will be at Brands Hatch (23-24 Sept)with the championship title still to be decided.
15/08/2006
The Fortec Formula Renault team now leads the entrants championship by 110 points following the latest rounds of the championship at Snetterton. Sebastian Hohenthal had an impressive weekend with a win and a second place starting from 3rd and 4th on the grid. Sam Bird having to start the weekend running in a brand new car, finished an impressive 6th and 4th. James Sutton visited the podium once again with a great drive to third place. Fabio Onidi leads the Graduates now with an 8th and 10th place finish.
30/07/2006
The Fortec Formula Renault winning spree continued at Donington Park this weekend with Sebastian Hohenthal winning rounds 11 and 12. Starting from Pole Position in both races, he drove a superb lights to flag victory, moving to only 2 points behind the championship leader. James Sutton came home 5th and 8th. Fabio Onidi finished 12th in the first race but an incident with Marcus Niemela at the old hairpin halted his second. Putting a dampener on the weekend was Sam Bird's huge crash. He was hit by Jeremy Metcalfe at Hollywood, putting Sam in to the barriers. Sam badly bruised his knee in the crash but he will be completely fit for the next round at Snetterton. The AKA driver causing Sam's crash received 4 points on his licence and was excluded from the last round of the weekend.
17/07/2006
Fortec's Formula Renault team completed an excellent weekend at Croft (July 15/16). In race one, Fortec's drivers completely filled the podium for the first time. Starting from second on the grid, Formula Renault rookie Sam Bird stormed into the lead in race one, gaining each lap to finish 11.2 seconds ahead of team mate Sebastian Hohenthal, while Graduate Cup contender Fabio Onidi joined the podium for the first time. James Sutton came in fifth, gaining valuable points. Sam Bird also took the fastest lap of the race.
Fortec's drivers now lie 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the main championship, while Fabio leads the Graduate Cup.
In race two, Seb enjoyed another second place, while Sam, James and Fabio came in 6th, 7th and 8th respectively, with James winning driver of the day award for his charge through the field from his 14th place start.
The team is now leading the entrants' points table by 83 points.
18/06/2006
The Fortec Formula Renault team locked out the first 3 places in qualifying at Knockhill.
Sebastian Hohenthal winning an event packed rain sodden race from pole position with James Suttton coming home in second.
Sam Bird starting third on the grid had a bit too much wheel spin and dropped back the order eventually fighting his way back to 10th for valuable points.
Fabio Onidi coming home in 8th just behind Roos to claim second in the Graduate cup.
The second race was as eventful as the first.
Sam bird starting on pole had an awesome start making up for his first race error pulling out a comfortable lead.
Sebastian Hohenthal starting third attempted a pass for second place but ended up being pushed on to the grass on the opening laps redeeming himself by setting the fastest lap of the race by nearly half a second.
Fabio finishing a respectable 5th and winning the graduates race.
13/04/2006
The Formula Renault team got off to a strong start at the first race of the year at Brands Hatch. James Sutton won the first race from pole and finished 2nd in race 2 putting him in the lead of the championship. Sebastian Hohenthal also had a good weekend with a 4th and 5th place finish. Sam Bird scored 7th and 12th place finishes with Fabio Onidi 9th and 19th.
17/02/2006
Fortec has now completed its Formula Renault team for the 2006 season following the signing of Sam Bird, James Sutton, Sebastian Hohenthal, and Fabio Onidi. Official championship testing begins on the 1st March at Silverstone.
26/11/2005
The team recently contested the Formula Renault winter series with drivers: - Patrick Hogan, Fabio Onidi, James Sutton, and Bradley Ellis. Patrick finished 3rd in the overall standings following a series of wins and strong points finishes.