Formula BMW

UK: Thruxton race 1 report

Simon Walker-Hansell dominated the opening round of the Formula BMW UK Championship at Thruxon. He started in third place but moved up to the lead at the end of the first lap after putting James Sutton under immense pressure and then built up a ...

Edited: Dec 16, 2005, 10:59 PM

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Simon Walker-Hansell dominated the opening round of the Formula BMW UK Championship at Thruxon. He started in third place but moved up to the lead at the end of the first lap after putting James Sutton under immense pressure and then built up a comfortable lead to win by over six seconds.

Sorlie lined up on pole position alongside Fortec Motorsport team-mate James Sutton. Simon Walker-Hansell had qualified third with Joao Urbano in fourth and Philip Glew in fifth. Sutton made a great start and pulled straight into the lead, whereas Sorlie made a very slow start and dropped a couple of places. His slow start also held up Glew, who was on the same side of the grid, and this allowed Josh Foster, starting from sixth, to go round the outside and take third place.

Walker-Hansell managed to avoid Sorlie at the start and pursued Sutton for the whole of the first lap before taking the lead at the final chicane. He then started to build up a cushion by pulling away by half a second per lap while Fisher passed Sutton to move up to second.

Fisher, Sutton and Sorlie were all fighting for second place and covered by just one second. On lap four Fisher got a bad run out of the first corner and had to defend hard from Sutton. This allowed Sorlie to pass Sutton but he retook the place by diving down the inside of the first corner on the next lap.

Sutton then closed up on Fisher and tried to outbrake him at the final chicane. The manoeuvre failed as he lost control at the exit of the corner, spun backwards across the track, and rejoined down in thirteenth.

Urbano, who had dropped back to ninth at the start, was making a storming comeback drive and had moved up to third by lap seven. This became second when he passed Fisher by sliding around the outside at Campbell and he set about trying to catch Walker-Hansell who was now six seconds ahead.

Fisher’s pace had dropped off and he had to defend hard. Sorlie got past him round the back of the circuit but he held up a queue of cars consisting of Tim Bridgman, Glew, Sam Edwards and Christian Bakkerud for several laps.

Walker-Hansell crossed the line to win by over six seconds. Sorli finished second as Urbano had missed a gear on the pit straight on the penultimate lap and dropped back to third.

Race results:
1. Simon Walker-Hansell 17 minutes 49.887 seconds
2. Stian Sorlie +6.317s
3. Joao Urbano +7.493s
4. John Fisher 14.189s
5. Tim Bridgman +14.401s
6. Philip Glew +15.339s
7. Duarte Felix Da Costa +15.696
8. Sam Edwards +16.101
9. Oliver Turvey +17.719
10. Ross Curnow +18.411

Championship:
1. Simon Walker-Hansell 20 points
2. Stian Sorlie 15
3. Joao Urbano 12
4. John Fisher 10
5. Tim Bridgeman 8
6. Philip Glew 6
7. Duarte Felix Da Costa 4
8. Sam Edwards 3
9. Oliver Turvey 2
10. Ross Curnow 1

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