UK: Thruxton round five race notes

Arundel wins Thruxton thriller.

Thruxton, 05 May, 2007. Henry Arundel (Fortec Motorsport) scored his first ever Formula BMW UK Championship victory with Championship leader Marcus Ericsson (Fortec Motorsport) finishing top Rookie.

Arundel made a good start from pole to secure a lights-to-flag victory and become the fourth different winner this year. After initial pressure from team-mate Ericsson, a mistake into the final chicane gave Arundel just enough breathing space to hold a comfortable gap from the chasing pack.

"It's great to finally get a win," said Arundel, "I thought I was capable but now I definitely know I am. Now I have one victory under my belt, hopefully the next will come a little easier!"

After dropping back from Arundel, 16-year-old Ericsson was left to defend second from a chasing Josef Kral (Double R Racing) who caught the young Swede in the final laps of the race. "Kral was so quick towards the end and was putting me under immense pressure, so it was good to see the flag," Ericsson commented. The Rookie remains in the Championship lead.

Kral put in an amazing drive to challenge from ninth on the grid. The Czech driver battled his way up the order, whilst still nursing an injury from qualifying earlier in the day, to claim the final podium position.

Henry Surtees (Carlin Motorsport) finished second Rookie. After briefly dropping down the order he pushed hard to move back to his original starting position of fifth overall. Oliver Webb (Carlin Motorsport), third Rookie, started fourth on the grid but unfortunately fell down to seventh while under pressure from behind.

After a jam packed schedule of activity today, the drivers now have time to rest before coming back for one final battle tomorrow lunch time on the quickest circuit they will visit all year. <pre> Results - Round 5 - 16 Laps 37.70 miles. Formula BMW UK Championship

Pos      Driver                       Nat     Team                         Time
1.       Henry Arundel                GB      Fortec Motorsport            20:35.516
2.       Marcus Ericsson*             SWE     Fortec Motorsport            20:38.051
3.       Josef Kral                   CZ      Double R Racing              20:38.611
4.       Daniel McKenzie              GB      Fortec Motorsport            20:40.950
5.       Henry Surtees*               GB      Carlin Motorsport            20:41.119
6.       Kimiya Sato                  J       Nexa Racing                  20:41.565
7.       Oliver Webb*                 GB      Carlin Motorsport            20:50.781
8.       Jonathan Legris              GB      Motaworld Racing             20:51.472
9.       Adrian Quaife-Hobbs*         GB      Fortec Motorsport            20:54.816
10.      Valle Makela                 SF      Nexa Racing                  20:55.213
11.      Jordan Williams              GB      Team Loctite                 20:55.485
12.      Sam Abay                     AUS     Team Loctite                 20:55.661
13.      Carlos Huertas*              COL     Double R Racing              20:56.066
14.      Rupert Svendsen-Cook*        GB      Team Loctite                 20:59.870
15.      Anthony Comas                F       Victory Engineering          21:05.840
16.      Callum Holland*              GB      Nexa Racing                  21:07.274
17.      Tom Gladdis*                 GB      Nexa Racing                  21:14.719
18.      Adam Butler*                 GB      Motaworld Racing             21:16.619

* indicates driver eligible for Rookie Cup

</pre> Fastest Lap: Kimiya Sato Nexa Racing 1m 16.230s, 111.25mph, 179.03kph Pole Position - Henry Arundel Fortec Motorsport 1m 15.520s

Championship Points Tables

Drivers
1. Ericsson 1 win 194, 2. Arundel 1 win 179, 3. Surtees 154, 4. McKenzie 152, 5. Makela 1 win 149, 6. Webb 142, 7. Legris 140, 8. Kral 2 wins 134, 9. Quaife-Hobbs 131, 10. Sato 122.

Rookies
1. Ericsson 194, 2. Surtees 154, 3. Webb 142, 4. Quaife-Hobbs 131, 5. Huertas 104, 6. Gladdis 72, 7. Holland 50, 8. Svendsen-Cook 38, 9. Butler 26.

Teams
1. Fortec Motorsport 384, 2. Carlin Motorsport 296, 3. Nexa Racing 284, 4. Double R Racing 237, 5. Team Loctite 188, 6. Motaworld Racing 166, 7. Victory Engineering 64, 8. Hyperion Motorsport 32.

Rounds 6 of the Championship will be at Thruxton tomorrow 6 May.

-credit: bmw.uk