Formula BMW

UK: Brands Hatch qualifying notes

Makela and Ericsson on pole for Formula BMW season openers. Brands Hatch, 31 March, 2007. Valle Makela (Nexa Racing) and Rookie Marcus Ericsson (Fortec Motorsport) both enjoyed a great start to the season claiming a pole position apiece for the ...

Edited: Apr 1, 2007, 3:29 PM

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Makela and Ericsson on pole for Formula BMW season openers.

Brands Hatch, 31 March, 2007. Valle Makela (Nexa Racing) and Rookie Marcus Ericsson (Fortec Motorsport) both enjoyed a great start to the season claiming a pole position apiece for the Formula BMW UK Championship 2007 opening rounds on the Indy circuit at Brands Hatch tomorrow. Henry Surtees (Carlin Motorsport) sealed two second positions, topping the Rookies for Round 1.

After an extremely wet practice day, the track dried out just in time for the first qualifying sessions of 2007 and, for the first time, the line-up of 18 young drivers were able to see how they measured up on the grid.

21-year old, Valle Makela's experience shone through as he got straight on the pace in the first session to claim pole for the opening round tomorrow morning, followed by fourth for Round 2.

After claiming fourth and pole position, a clearly delighted Ericsson commented, "I was naturally a little nervous before the first qualifying session as it's all very new, but by the second session I was feeling much more confident as the result showed." The youngster, who is one of the least experienced racers on the grid, put in a solid second drive to clinch pole for Round 2 by only 0.008 seconds.

Henry Surtees also made a great start to his campaign. The 16-year old Rookie put his car on the front row for both of tomorrow's races. "Today's sessions went well and it's great to be on the front row for my first Formula BMW races," he commented. "I'm definitely going to go for it from there!"

2006 Rookie Cup Champion Henry Arundel (Fortec Motorsport) claimed two second row spots to open his 2007 challenge. "I'm happy to be in third for both races, it's a good spot and I'm hopeful I can do a lot from there," he said.

The close sessions clearly showed the abundance of talent for this year's championship. With less than a second between the top 13 for both races, tomorrow looks set to provide some very exciting racing as the new crop of drivers take to the grid for the first time this year.

-credit: bmw.uk

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