Formula WSR - News
05/07/2010
Hungaroring
Free Practice Combined
Sten Pentus - Car 23
Sten on his second time at the Hungaroring started out on some scrubbed tyres to re find his way around the track. After half the session passed and the team fine tuned the car and took a better set of tyres, placing Sten in the top 5. After more time in the session passed a few drivers took new tyres which ended up placing Sten in P 12. The second session was good too as a lot of set up work was evaluated and "the car felt good" said Pentus, also that he met some traffic in sector 2 and could only manage tenth position but was confident of claiming a top 5 position on the grid for race 1.
Jon Lancaster - Car 24
Good news for Lancaster before arriving to the circuit, his 30 minute penalty that was given for not respecting yellow flags at Magny cours was retracted because of a wrong full drive through penalty in the last race meeting.
Jon started of steadily whilst the track rubberd in and then went for it, placing himself quickest of all on old tyres. Trying a few set up changes to take away some oversteer then fitted new tyres along with several other cars and ending the session comfortably in p5.
Session 2 for Jon was good, he said on the light areo configuration we did some high fuel runs for our race sim, we took new tyres and had a little too much understeer. We had a good pace on the set up for race 1, though only ending the day in p14 but remembering that some of the other cars where still on the high down force which will be the quicker option for Race 2 and Jon added that he also is aiming for a top 5 position.
Qualifying 1
Sten Pentus
Having had a small clutch issue before the session started The crew of Sten made further checks to the car to make sure it was perfect before starting the first run in quail. The first few laps put Sten into p3 and stayed in the top 6 for the first half then took new tyres and made another run and placed himself in p2 the rest of the cars passed by some quicker and right up until the end he remained but with a nail biting finish Sten dropped to 4th.
Jon Lancaster
Jon left the pits to start his first run and was the quickest guy out there for the first 20 minutes of the session, a red flag was out and stopped the session while they retrieved a car, this was a good time to make a few adjustments to the set up. Then he went out to try to improve on his own time but could not manage, so again a return to the pits for more changes and a new set of tyres, by this time Jon was down in 8th place. A final push with 5 minutes to go making 5th place the flag came out.
A good effort by both drivers to be in the top 5 and so close together.
Race 1
Sten Pentus
Podium for Pentus once again. Sten drove a brilliant race to hold off the Red Bull young driver Hartley from start to finish with a nail biting finish with Sten ended ahead of this battle taking the final step on the podium, This boosts the points tally and keeps Sten in the championship hunt. Sten added "it was great to fight through the race it kept me focus on racing and not about how hot it was in the cockpit".
Jon Lancaster
Another frustrating day.
Jon made a good start and almost made one place but at the same time did not loose any. Towards the end of the first lap was pushed wide and spun on the dirty side of the track, Jon now in 14th had to push real hard to get a look in at any points Passing 3 cars in 2 laps was great driving the on the move for 10th jon was hit from the side which damaged his steering and spinning him off putting an end to what looked to be a great opportunity.
Qualifying 2
Sten Pentus
With the downforce level for this race left to the teams discretion, the team increased downforce for qualifying which produced a different mix of pacesetters at the front with Ricciardo and Hartley struggling to get the Tech1 cars competitive compared to the Saturday speed, while Aleshin was again looking strong and 2009 EuroCup Champion Albert Costa impressing. For most of the session Sten did not feature in the top ten, but he turned in a stunning performance on his last lap to take a sensational pole position, the only driver to break into the 1minute 32 second bracket with a time of 1.32.957. Behind Sten, Costa (1.33.069) and Ferrari Academy driver Daniel Zampieri (1.33.118) filled second and third on the grid, with Saturday winner Ricciardo placed seventh and Hartley tenth.
The Hungaroring is a very technically demanding drivers circuit, so for Sten it had extra value, "I like this track because you have to get everything absolutely right and there's absolutely no time to rest, so to take my first World Series pole here is specially enjoyable, and it gives me a lot of confidence for the race".
Race 2
Sten Pentus
From his pole position Sten made a perfect start to lead unchallenged into turn 1 and by the end of the lap had already opened a comfortable gap to second placed Costa with Aleshin and Greg Mansell right behind. Sten continued to open out an unchallenged lead which allowed him to make his mandatory tyre stop and resume in the lead which he then stretched to over 6.5 seconds when the race was "red-flagged" with a lap remaining because Hartley's Tech1 car was blocking the track at turn 3.
It was an almost perfect performance with pole position and a dominant win with only fastest lap missing from Sten's Sunday successes, "Everything went perfectly today and I'm really happy to get my second win of the season. After qualifying I felt confident we could have a really good race, but everything turned out better than I could have imagined. It's great to have such a good weekend to go into the summer break, and I'm really looking forward to the last three rounds of the championship. The Team worked brilliantly all weekend, my engineer gave me a great car, and the result is a great reward for all the effort everybody has made".
The win was also very satisfying for Fortec's boss Richard Dutton who put this team together from scratch at the end of last year. Dutton's delight was clear, "To take our second win this year in such dominant fashion is tremendously rewarding for the whole team. I am also really pleased for Sten and his group who kept their faith in us to put a new, competitive team together for this year. Sten did a superb job in both qualifying and the race. He thoroughly deserves his success as his commitment, hard work and maturity have set a great example for us all. He really drove a perfect race, all the more impressive in view of his very limited race experience when he stepped into Word Series eighteen months ago."
Sten now lies third in the Championship standings with 69 points behind Aleshin who leads with 97 points and Ricciardo on 86 points.
Jon Lancaster
For Lancaster a disaster as a gear selection problem due to (a) steering wheel failure or (b) a clutch problem meant he started from the pit lane and was dead last but 1 consolation was that he was the fastest car on the track for the whole race, though just missing out on the fastest lap by 1/1000th.
"In race two, I tried to select first gear and it just wouldn't engage. I turned it off and on again, tried to reset it, but nothing happened, I couldn't select any gears! So the officials pushed me into the pits and the boys in the team did everything they could to try and resolve it."
"When I came out the car was great, and I was able to set some really fast times but was just so far down the order, and with overtaking so hard on this track, it was impossible to make much progress. Thankfully we have a long break now before the next race so hopefully we can sort out the clutch problem once and for all before the next rounds."
Jon's next outing will take place at Hockenheim in Germany over the weekend of 4/5 September.
19/06/2010
Magny Cours Race 5 - 19th June 2010
Saturday Q1 - Weather Wet
Sten Pentus
Qualifying did not go so well for Sten as a spin early on in the session damaging the cars underside quite a lot which despite the mechanics doing a great job getting the car back out onto the drying track, It took Sten time to get back into the groove on scrubbed tyres, He then took a set of new slicks with 10 mins to go Sten tried so hard to get back to the top of the time sheets but over drove with his frustrations and fell down to a disappointing 21st.
Jon Lancaster
Jon was quick and straight on the pace and was on the top of the leader board for most of the session, he dropped to 2nd and comfortably stayed there until the last 3 mins which was after Jon had finished his run, The track now at its driest helplessly sitting in the pits watching his name slip down the table to an eventual p6 a good place to start though the hole team new that being out there when it counted we could have had pole.
Race 1 - Raining
Sten
The first few laps of this wet race saw Sten leap from 21st through the pack and passed 8 cars, driving brilliantly all race passing more cars each lap with 16 mins to go Sten was up in 6th and was still pushing hard to pass 5th placed man but had a small moment and lost out on a place but was still charging back but took the flag in a well earned 7th place and has great confidence of doing well on Sundays race as he got the 2 fastest race laps.
Jon
More bad luck for Jon as a seized bearing on the back of the engine stopped the clutch disengaging forced the team to start the race from the pit lane with no clutch, when the lights went out for the race start the team bump started the car. Despite being dead last Jon was not phased and went to work carving his way to through the field to 12th with 3 laps remaining and a word of encouragement from team boss Richard Dutton down the radio, Jon went on to pass 2 more cars and took the final point of 10th place.
18/06/2010
Magny Cours Race 5 - 18th June 2010
Friday free practice combined
Sten Pentus
The weather in Magny cours was wet at the start of the day so all teams that were on wet tyres, The first run Sten was on the pace in p4 with 6 tenths of the pace, the track was drying all the time so all the cars were going quicker, We put new tyres on but Sten got caught on a damp part on the track and spun off. In the second session having had a small shower it started wet again and like in the first session drying all the time, on wets Sten was p4 then switching to dry tyres and trying the Light aero configuration (LAC). The car was looking good, so for a new it should have been a good time from Sten but as usual a red flag stopped the session and it did not re-start.
Jon Lancaster
Jon started of very well for the second Friday on the trot lapping in the top 5 consistantly,the track went from wet to almost dry and jon possed the fastest time but did this under yellow flags so this time was deleted to leave him in a respectable p5. The next session Jon had to stay in the pit for a 15 min penalty (part of the yellow flag penalty)after we were finally allowed to go on track it rained, when the track started to dry and we had some good running in also a LAC Jon had a good run and and was the second fastest driver on LAC and forth overall the red flag came out and stopped the session, But on his last lap he improve on one sector so again lost his best lap and urnt himself another penalty of 30mins in the pits for free practice at Budapest.
06/06/2010
Brno Race 4 - Sunday 6th June
Q2
The second qualifying of the weekend again was a little disappointing due to another red flag at the critical time on new tyres stopping both drivers posting there best times. In the session Sten started on old tyres achieving the quickest time early on, pitted for a fresher set and repeated the same time, the track was getting quicker all the time so Sten came in for his new tyres to try and improve he was now lying in 6th position and the track getting even faster on the first flying lap he came across a slow moving Comtec car which slowed him down, on the second flying lap he got blocked by Kunimoto who had his best time deleted for this, after this the red flag came out for another incident leaving Sten in 12th place.
For Jon the session was going well and he was also in the top few during the early part of the session, as in the first session everything was going well and right when it mattered the red flag came out and left Jon in a disappointing 9th.
Race 2
The conditions where hot with a clear blue sky for this pit stop race which took one element out of the strategy.
Both cars made good starts, but for Sten more disappointment caused by Kunimoto when he drove into the back of him knocking him out of the race so no points for Sten from this race, causing him to drop down two places in the drivers championship.
For Jon the racing was good and he felt a lot happier with his car this race, he again showed how well he can race, trading lap times with the leaders for most of the race and defending his position when challenged. Jon scored 4 points finishing in 7th which put the team in to second place in the championship and Jon unfortunately dropped one place to 10th.
05/06/2010
Brno Race 4 - Saturday 5th June
Q1
Sten and Jon's qualifying was going really well as both of them chose to wait for the first 10 minutes to elapse so that the track could rubber in, their first runs put them 3rd and 4th which was done on the second lap. Both cars returned to the pits for their 2nd set of new tyres and went for the pole position again.
The track was quicker so the lap time should have been too, but for both drivers the pressures of the front tyres took slightly longer so the times needed to come on lap 2, with 1.5 minutes to go both drivers sector times were up and the laps looked good enough for top 4 until the session got red flagged and neither Sten or Jon improved so we start race 1 from P9 and P12.
RACE 1
Sten and Jon both made a great start and made places on the first lap, after lap one Sten was in 6th place and started to pursue the 5th placed man and Jon in 9th chasing 8th.
There was pressure all around as the Fortec cars battled for the whole race, Sten did not gain any more positions despite being the second quickest driver towards the end, Jon was in a four car battle for the last half of the race which he lost out 1 place to Colleti but held off the other Comtec car of Mansell, Mansell then losing out to Tech 1's Ricciardo and appliying more pressure for Jon for the rest of the race to come home in 10th place scoring 1 point.
The team will now focus on a quicker race set up for Race 2 on Sunday with the high down force quicker set up.
04/06/2010
Brno Race 4 - Friday 4th June
The day started a little cold but brightened up to reach 16 degrees c for the first time the World Series Fr 3.5 has been to the Czech circuit.
Free Practice 1
Sten started the first session with a brand new engine, so he took a little more time than normal to get into the groove, during the session Sten evaluated some set up adjustments and tried a few things different to how he normally likes the car. In the end he was not to happy with the balance so for P2 the team will re set the car to Stens preferred option.
Jon took to the track for the first time and immediately was on the pace setting 3rd fastest time. During the session Jon was always in the top six, Jons crew made a few small set up changes and with a slightly better set of tyres secured 3rd at the end of the session, The two guys in front where both on new tyres, so we are in good shape for free practice 2.
Free Practice 2
With a fresher set of tyres and the car set up more to Stens preference he again got used to the track, Stens session was about preparing the car for qualifying on the Saturday LAC light aero configuration, with new tyres fitted Sten was 0.1 off the quickest time with cars on the LAC settings. With p7 over, all the day turned out very positive and we look forward to a good weekend.
Also for Jon this session was to gain track time in the LAC set up which of course is mandatory for Saturday running, Jon found a lot of time in the car and with his confidence putting him 0.5 off the front runners with the same configuration, other teams stayed on high down force for the full day which is a lot quicker round Brno so it will be a new ball game for qualifying when all cars are on the same settings.
19/04/2010
Motorland Aragon, Spain
After an excellent Friday free practice where Sten was quickest and third quickest in the two practice sessions in dry weather, Saturdays qualifying took place on a wet track.
Sten drove a perfect race, finishing 1st and crossed the line 8.7 seconds ahead of second placed Charouz, with Red Bull junior Ricciardo a further a 3.3 seconds behind Charouz in third place.
Not in the least bit troubled by his journey from Leeds the day before, Jon finished in an excellent fourth place in the opening round of the 2010 World Series by Renault race, at the Motorland Aragon circuit in Spain earlier today. Now racing for Fortec Motorsport he had posted the seventh quickest time in the earlier morning's qualifying, but was promoted to sixth when Federico Leo had his lap time disallowed for passing under a red flag.
Jon's hopes of repeating his fine drive from Saturday's wet race in the opening World Series by Renault race, ended in the second round on Sunday when he was forced off into the gravel trap. It had followed a storming start by Jon, which saw him pass no less than nine cars in the opening two laps of the race, after officials had frustratingly disallowed his qualifying times under Article 26.1.
09/06/2009
Fairuz Fauzy (Mofaz Fortec Motorsport) scored the teams first win of the season with a lights to flag victory in Race 1 of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series at Hungaroring. Benefitting from the reverse grid procedure, the Malaysian driver led into the first corner and successfully contained Marco Barba (Draco) and Bertrand Baguette (Draco) all the way to the chequered flag. The only threat to Fauzy's first win in the series was a safety car period brought about by Filip Salaquarda (Prema) spinning off the track. Fauzy timed the re-start to perfection, taking a lead of over one-second from Barba as he crossed the start/finish line. Fauzy then controlled the race, ultimately taking the win from Barba, Baguette, Walker (P1 Motorsport), Alguersuari (Carlin), and Martinez (Pons). Race 2 would see Fauzy start from 8th position on the grid with team-mate Sten Pentus in 18th position. Both cars made good starts before the safety-car was brought out to neutralize the race after incidents on lap 1 and 9. With Fairuz and Sten making their mandatory pit-stops for tyres on laps 12 and 13 respectively, the continued to take the chequered flag in 7th and 15th positions. Taking valuable points from the weekend, Mofaz Fortec now moves into 7th place in the teams championship with Fairuz 10th and Sten 15th in the drivers championship.
30/01/2009
Mofaz Fortec Motorsport is pleased to welcome Sten Pentus to the team as part of their line-up for the 2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Series. Pentus from Tallinn, Estonia joins the team after two successful days testing in the World Series test at Valencia in November last year, following a season in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship.
Mofaz Fortec team Principal, Richard Dutton commented "Sten came to us at the end of last year and made great progress in testing. He worked well with our engineering staff and quickly settled into the team to learn the car and circuit. We're looking forward to a successful year and from what we saw in testing, I'm sure Sten will achieve some strong results".
Sten's first official WSR test of the 2009 season will be at Jerez, Spain on 10 & 11 March.
02/11/2008
Drivers from the Fortec Motorsport Formula Renault UK and Eurocup teams will each sample the Formula Renault 3.5 (World Series by Renault) car at Paul Ricard HTTT circuit in France this week. Dean Smith, Adriano Buzaid, and Riki Christo will join Jake Rosenzweig and Formula Renault UK Champion Adam Christodoulou at the French circuit on 5,6,7 November
26/05/2008
The Monaco GP supporting Formula Renault 3.5 race produced great results for the Fortec team with both drivers finishing in points-scoring positions. Fairuz Fauzy qualified second in group and third overall, scoring two points. James Walker qualified fourth in group and started on the fourth row in eight position for the race. The drivers were faced with a rain-soaked track on Sunday morning with the race started behind the safety-car. After two-laps, the safety-car was brought in and the race underway. Both drivers performed well under the pressure of difficult conditions for the duration of the 45-minute race and finished where they had started with Fairuz Fauzy taking ten points for third position and James Walker in eight position with three points. The series visits the UK for next two rounds at Silverstone on 7th and 8th June.
12/02/2008
After a successful debut season in the 2007 World Series by Renault, James Walker will continue to race with Fortec Motorsport in 2008. The Jersey racer fits in well with the British team and is delighted with this news as he believes a continuation of the partnership will give him the best chance of further success in the Series. "I had a good rookie season in the World Series by Renault," said James. "The highlight was definitely the win at Donington but I enjoyed the whole season as we made steady progress as we went through the races. I know I still have more to give and I have continued to train hard over the winter to make sure I am ready for the new season. I know that the team will continue to push me hard and I am ready and willing to put the work in. I think we have some exciting times ahead of us."
"James is the right choice for Fortec," said Technical Director, Chris Gorne, who was James' race engineer in 2007. "He did a good job for us last year and made significant improvements as the season went on. Staying with us for his and our second season in WSR, gives both James and the team a sound platform to capitalise on. All the teams have changes with the new car, so working with the same driver reduces the variables and enables us to hit the ground running. I am sure James will be a much stronger and confident competitor from the first race, his application and feedback are exemplary so it's just a matter of time."
09/11/2007
The World Series by Renault team completed three days of testing at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit in France this week (6-8 Nov). Edoardo Piscopo, Craig Dolby, Yelmer Buurman, and Xavier Maasen all sampled the Formula 3.5 car, joined by Formula Renault 1.6 Belgium champion Karline Stala.
09/09/2007
James Walker scored a fantastic first win in the World Series by Renault Championship in Race 2 at Donington Park. After finishing 10th in Race 1, James lined-up on pole-position as a result of the reverse-grid system. His only threat during the 31 lap race was from Michael Aleshin (Carlin) who took the lead at the start before spinning off at the Saftey Car restart. Yelmer Buurman, taking the place of Richard Philippe following his injury at Spa, scored two excellent points positions in only his second race in the series. After finishing fifth in Race 1 from eighth on the grid, Yelmer started from sixth for Race 2 coming home in fourth position taking valuable drivers and team points. The series now travels to Magny-Cours in France on 22-23 September.
17/07/2007
Rounds 6 and 7 of the 2007 World Series by Renault saw the Fortec Motorsport team travel to Budapest in Hungary, home of the Hungaroring circuit. Race 1 saw James Walker start from 15th on the grid with team-mate Richard Philippe joining him on the 8th row in 16th position after both drivers suffered with red-flags in Qualifying. Both drivers made solid starts with James moving up to 10th position and Richard 12th. Daniil Move (Interwetten) then made contact with Richard forcing him to slow and lose several positions, leaving him 22nd. An incident on the start/finish straight then brought out the Safety-Car while the damaged cars were cleared. During this time, James suffered a temporary gear-selection problem. This forced him backwards in the race-order until he was able to select gear and follow the field for the re-start. Once racing resumed, James made his mandatory pit-stop on Lap 7 with Richard stopping 2 laps later. On the final lap, contact was again made with Richard's car, this time by Pippa Mann (Cram) causing considerable damage to his car. He was able to recover and finish in 20th position with James finishing in 12th.
James and Richard started 12th and 20th on the grid for Race 2. James made an impressive start moving up to 7th place before making a small mistake under braking while battling with Piccione (RC) and dropping back to 12th. Richard Philippe made steady progress throughout the race and following several battles with other drivers, came home 14th. James moved up the field during the race to finish in 10th position, taking one championship point. The World Series now travels to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium for Rounds 8 and 9 on the 18th and 19th August.
04/06/2007
The World Series by Renault team scored their first points of the 2007 season at the recent Nurburgring race with replacement driver Yelmer Buurman finishing 9th in Race 2. Qualifying saw James Walker line up in 16th position on the grid with Yelmer Buurman, standing-in for Richard Philippe who was unable to race following a broken-hand sustained at Monza starting an impressive 21st. Race 1 saw James run as high as 13th position before being taken-off by Julian Jousse (Tech-1) to finish in 24th position. Yelmer driver a solid race to finish 14th and line-up on the 7th row of the grid for Race 2. Yelmer made an impressive start to the 2nd race and made up several places to 8th position. He would eventually be overtaken by Charlie Kimball and finish 9th. The events of Race 1 meant that James would sit behind several slower cars in Race 2, limiting his chances of moving up the order to finish in the points. He would go on to finish 18th.
29/03/2007
World Series by Renault drivers Richard Philippe and James Walker completed two days of testing with the team at Nurburgring yesterday. Both drivers evaluated set-up options in preparation for the first race event of the year at Monza (14/15 April).
05/03/2007
James Walker and Richard Philippe completed a succesful shakedown of their World Series by Renault cars at Pembrey today. Both drivers completed several runs in the wet conditions and now look forward to the first official collective test of the season at Barcelona on 14/15 March.
12/02/2007
Fortec Motorsport are pleased to announce that 17 year old Richard Philippe will be joining their World Series by Renault team for the 2007 season. Richard will partner James Walker as the team aims to deliver strong results in it's maiden World Series by Renault season. "I'm ecstatic about the move to Europe and to the very competitive Renault World Series! I can already sense a great atmosphere within the team and I look forward to learning a lot this season," commented the French driver. After being the youngest Formula BMW USA Champion in the History of the series following his 2005 season and competing in the Champ Car Atlantic series in 2006, Richard continues his rise up the motorsport ladder choosing to change continents with his move into the Formula Renault 3.5 category.
13/01/2007
Fortec Motorsport are pleased to announce the signing of James Walker to their World Series by Renault programme for 2007. James re-joins the team after a successful year of British Formula 3 in 2005, during which he took his maiden Formula 3 victory. Having already tested the World Series by Renault car during the winter, James and team hope to hit the ground running when official testing commences in March. To find out more about James Walker, visit www.jwalkermotorsport.com
16/12/2006
Fortec Motorsport has been confirmed as one of the teams to compete in the World Series by Renault Championship for 2007. The progression follows the team's success in Formula 3, Formula 3000, Formula Renault, and Formula BMW in recent years.