BARC Formula Renault Championship
Round 1

Thruxton 16 March 1997

Not one of our better days!

The combination of new car, new circuit, 2 years layoff and insufficient track time meant qualifying 13th on the grid, albeit with the knowledge that our lap times had steadily improved over the 20 minute session when most others had worsened. Still, plenty of oportunity to make up places - and Stuart was certainly looking forward to the race.

But then disaster on the grid - the fire extinguisher triggers and covers everything in foamy liquid! The lights change to green and Stuart makes a good start, considering he has the only wet starting position on the grid. By lap 2 he is up to 9th place but the race officials know the rules better than we and he is black flagged because his extinguisher is now in-operative (as in empty!)

So, you live and learn and we will spend considerable time investigating and rectifying the problem in the extinguisher system before Snetterton.

Congratulations to Peter Clarke, who won the race, and special mention to old Formula First adversories Matt Bettley and Matt Baldacci, both of whom started at the back of the grid and worked their way up to second and fifth respectively!

See you at Snetterton

Results

Pos	Driver	Car	Division
1.	Peter Clarke	Van Diemen RF96	2000
2.	Matt Bettley	Van Diemen RF96	2000
3.	Gary Taylor	Van Diemen RF96	2000
4.	Charles Hall	Van Diemen RF96	2000
5.	Matt Baldacci	Van Diemen RF96	1700