Formula BMW
UK: Matt Howson Rockingham report
MATT HOWSON RACE REPORT VICTORIOUS HOWSON RETAKES CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD Matt Howson came to Rockingham Motor Speedway for the third meeting of the 2005 Formula BMW UK Championship season intending to "bounce back" after a mildly disastrous Thruxton ...
Edited: Dec 16, 2005, 10:59 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
MATT HOWSON RACE REPORT VICTORIOUS HOWSON RETAKES CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD
Matt Howson came to Rockingham Motor Speedway for the third meeting of the 2005 Formula BMW UK Championship season intending to "bounce back" after a mildly disastrous Thruxton weekend. He duly rebounded in some style, finishing a very close second in race one, dominating race two, and moving back into the championship lead.
"I went into the weekend knowing that I had to bounce back and start stamping my authority on things," said Howson, who won the first race of the season but took zero points home from Thruxton after incidents in both races. "I thought it would take a few races to get back on terms, but here I am back in the lead already."
Wet weather on qualifying day caused problems for many, but not Matt. He put his Filsell Motorsport car second on the grid for the first race, beaten only by Simon Walker-Hansell, whose team-mate Felix da Costa had been in Howson's way for most of the session. A few hours later there were no such impediments, and Matt was able to take a dominant pole position.
The weather cleared up for race day, and with his main title rivals having struggled for speed in the wet, Howson had a great chance to make up the ground he had lost at Thruxton. He duly scorched off the grid and looked set to take the lead at the first corner. Walker-Hansell had other ideas, however.
"I did actually get into the lead at the Deene Hairpin, but Walker-Hansell came across and took his usual line as if I wasn't there," said Matt. "I had to go right up onto the kerbs to get out of the way and that cost me a lot of momentum, but if I'd stayed where I was then we would have collided."
That incident allowed Walker-Hansell to make a slight break, but Howson rapidly reeled him in and provided constant pressure throughout the race, finishing right on the leader's tail.
A few hours later, Matt made a clean start from pole position and duly left Walker-Hansell behind, pulling away for a beautifully uncomplicated victory.
"I could have maybe pushed a bit harder in the first race," said Howson. "The car is still not 100% right, but it's definitely getting better and I set the fastest lap right at the end of race one just to prove a bit of a point.
"Then in the second race I pushed hard for the first few laps to take of advantage of being in front, then just controlled the gap. It was relatively easy, really."
After double headers at Brands Hatch and Oulton Park in the next month, the Formula BMW series takes a five week summer break before reconvening for the second half of the season. Howson's aim is to go into that 'holiday' period at the head of the standings.
"The car is still a bit nervy, so we have work to do," he said. "I want to stay at the front, be consistent, keep scoring points, and lead into that summer break, because although there are still plenty of races afterwards, I think it would be an advantage to be in front at the halfway point."
-mb-
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article USA: Kevin Lacroix Mid-Ohio race two notes
Next article USA: Cameron Motorsports Mid-Ohio summary
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
Latest news
Carson Hocevar posts 18-minute apology video: "I'm the bad guy"
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
5 h
Carson Hocevar posts 18-minute apology video: "I'm the bad guy"
Timmy Hill secures full-time NASCAR Truck ride for 2027
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
7 h
Timmy Hill secures full-time NASCAR Truck ride for 2027
Kimi Antonelli admits he questioned himself throughout his rookie campaign
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
8 h
Kimi Antonelli admits he questioned himself throughout his rookie campaign
F1 Brazil GP: Friday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
8 h
F1 Brazil GP: Friday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe