BARC Formula Renault Championship
Round 3
Pembrey 19 April 1998

Race Report

With only five days between Brands and Pembrey there was much burning of midnight oil to get the car ready in time (see team update). It was a tired crew that rolled the car out of the trailer on raceday morning and set about preparing for qualifying. With no time for testing, the car had not turned a wheel after the Brands accident so it was decided to use the first 5 minutes of qualifying to check out the car and establish the minimum three laps required to proceed to the race. The heavy rain would not help much either.

As it happened, a red flag stopped the session after five minutes so the crew took a little time checking the basic systems before sending Stuart out again to establish a quick lap. And what a lap it was - pole by three tenths of a second as the chequered flag came out. It made all the effort well worth while!

As race time approached, the rain stopped but the track remained wet - if anything it got greasier as the trucks, Minis and Austin-Healeys had their races. Stuart, by his own admission, did not make a great start, entering the first corner in fourth place! By the end of lap two, he had the lead back and started to pull away over the next few laps before locking up and sliding off at the end of the pit straight!

By the time he had recovered the circuit and got the Tatuus pointing the right way, he was ninth and Anthony Dunn had taken over the lead after his battle with Elliot Lewis ended in contact from which Anthony came our on top!

Stuart set about working his way up the field, passing Nick Dudfield and Elliot Lewis and setting off in pursuit of third place man Joe Chedid. On lap 13, he caught and passed Joe and now Rizzo Isper was in sight - but not close enough because at the flag the deficit was just nine tenths of a second.

So, a mixed result for us but on balance a good day, moving Stuart back to second place in the championship and pulling three points closer to championship leader Nick Dudfield.

Next race is at Snetterton on May 4th - See you there.

Race Results 14 laps.
PosDriverCarDivisionTime
1.Anthony DunnMartini Mk26200016m 08.02sFastest Lap
2.Paulo Rizzo-IsperTatuus RC972000+19.89
3.Stuart WoodTatuus RC962000+20.71Pole
4.Nick DudfieldTatuus RC962000+23.18
5.Joe ChedidVan Diemen RF972000+24.23

Chequered Line

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This page was last updated on 20 April 1998.