Formula BMW

UK: Donington Park rounds 11, 12 race report

Legris and Surtees take maiden victories. Donington Park, 14 July, 2007. Jonathan Legris (Motaworld Racing) and Henry Surtees (Carlin Motorsport) claimed their first victories in the Formula BMW UK Championship in rain-soaked Rounds 11 & ...

Published: Jul 16, 2007, 4:41 PM

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Legris and Surtees take maiden victories.

Donington Park, 14 July, 2007. Jonathan Legris (Motaworld Racing) and Henry Surtees (Carlin Motorsport) claimed their first victories in the Formula BMW UK Championship in rain-soaked Rounds 11 & 12.

After much delay due to the deteriorating weather, Rounds 11 and 12 finally got underway late on Sunday afternoon. Surtees made up for a disappointing seventh position in the first race to storm back and claim his first victory of the series in the second. Pole-sitter Ericsson (Fortec Motorsport) dropped down to ninth after making a mistake while under pressure from Sam Abay (Team Loctite) on the first lap. Abay led briefly until his team-mate Jordan Williams took the position at the first corner of the third lap. But Williams' joy was short-lived as a drive through penalty for a jump start dropped him down the order. Surtees then carved his way through from seventh on the grid to claim the top step on the podium.

"The conditions were really tricky but the most important thing is to make sure you finish," Surtees said. "People were falling off all around me so I just tried to pick them off one by one. I kept going and suddenly realised I was leading, so I decided to stay there!"

As well as being Rookie winner in Round 12 Surtees also received the 'Muriel Tomlinson Trophy' awarded to the top scoring British driver of the weekend.

Earlier in the day Jonathan Legris (Motaworld Racing) scored his first victory of the year on a sodden circuit in Round 11. The 19-year-old made a fantastic start that catapulted him from fourth to second leaving only pole-sitter Abay ahead. He chased down and passed Abay half way round the first lap and controlled the race from there on.

"It's about time I won! I got a brilliant start and managed to drive round the outside of Abay as he aqua-planed through McLeans corner. I then pushed hard for a couple of laps to gain a gap so I could just pace myself to the end. I saw Marcus catching a little but I had enough of a lead. I really enjoy racing in the wet."

Championship leader Ericsson caught and passed Arundel (Fortec Motorsport) with a brave move through the Craner Curves in Round 11 to finish second but could only manage fifth in Round 12, although it was enough to maintain his points lead.

"I passed Arundel in Round 11, which was very important for my championship," commented Ericsson. "I had the lead in Round 12 but had to defend from Abay on the wet part of the circuit and I ended up losing eight places!"

Arundel now lies only five points behind team-mate Ericsson after a pair of third place finishes.

Arundel said: "In a normal dry race I'd be disappointed with third but I scored more points than Ericsson and Kral this weekend and that's all that matters. I could have pushed harder and risked more but you have to think about the points system. My approach would be different if all I had to do was charge for wins, but you have to be more sensible to win a championship."

The series now heads to Snetterton, where the drivers will be in search of some dry weather to resume their battles in Rounds 13 & 14 of the Formula BMW UK Championship.

-credit: bmw.uk

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