BFREN: Croft testing report 2002-04-12

New team heads latest Renault test.

John Village Automotive became the fifth team this year to head an official Formula Renault UK Championship test when its drivers Ryan Sharp (Aberdeen) and Stefan Soderberg (Chesterfield) topped the times at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire on Friday, 12th April.

The result marks a major breakthrough for the Chesterfield team which is new to Formula Renault in 2002 and - added to the fact the top 17 runners on the day were covered by less than a second - is further testament of the championship's competitiveness. It is also the first time this year that a team has had a one-two in official testing.

Team boss John Village said: "This shows we've got excellent drivers who can really do the job. As we've been going along we've been learning more and more about the cars and getting faster and faster.

"This doesn't mean we'll just go out and win the next race - Formula Renault is incredibly competitive - but I'd like to think we can get a very good result. This should be the lift we were looking for to put us in a position to challenge for race victories from now on."

Third quickest in Croft's test - his best performance of the year so far - was winter championship `find', Motaworld Racing's 17-year-old Alex Lloyd (Port Soderick). Opening round winner, Fortec Motorsport's Danny Watts (Northampton) was fourth but his day came to an abrupt end when his car was damaged in a collision with the JVA team's spinning French driver Vasilije Calasan (Oxford).

Paston Racing's Mark McLoughlin (Milton Keynes), runner-up to Watts in the opening round, and Motaworld's winter champion Robert Bell (Newcastle-upon-Tyne) completed the top six. Next up came Manor Motorsport's 17-year-old McLaren Formula One protégé Lewis Hamilton (Tewyn, Welwyn), Aztec International's Dutch ace Ricardo van der Ende, while team-mates, Australian Will Davison (Buckingham) and Gary Turkington (Portadown) made it all four Motaworld cars in the top 10.

There were excellent performances from Fortec's Katherine Legge (Haslemere) and Team DFR's Susie Stoddart (Oban), Britain's leading female racing drivers, who were 14th and 15th fastest overall, each within a second of pace-setter Sharp.

For all the latest Formula Renault news visit the official Renault UK motorsport website www.renaultsport.co.uk

<pre> Official Test: Formula Renault UK Championship, Croft, North Yorks Date: Friday 12th April 2002 Weather: Mainly Cloudy/Cool/ Dry with some showers

Pos/Driver (NAT)                        Entrant                         Time
1. Ryan Sharp (GBR)                     John Village Automotive         1m18.002s
2. Stefan Soderberg (SWE)               John Village Automotive         1m18.251s
3. Alex Lloyd (GBR)                     Motaworld Racing                1m18.315s
4. Danny Watts (GBR)                    Fortec Motorsport               1m18.333s
5. Mark McLoughlin (GBR)                Paston Racing                   1m18.666s
6. Robert Bell (GBR)                    Motaworld Racing                1m18.670s
7. Lewis Hamilton (GBR)                 Manor Motorsport                1m18.720s
8. Ricardo van der Ende (NDL)           Aztec International             1m18.724s
9. Will Davison (AUS)                   Motaworld Racing                1m18.759s
10. Gary Turkington (GBR)               Motaworld Racing                1m18.776s
11. Keith Dempsey (IRL)                 Cliff Dempsey Racing            1m18.795s
12. Robin Rudholm (SWE)                 Falcon Motorsport               1m18.808s
13. Matt Griffin (IRL)                  Manor Motorsport                1m18.842s
14. Katherine Legge (GBR)               Fortec Motorsport               1m18.844s
15. Susie Stoddart (GBR)                Team DFR                        1m18.873s
16. Patrick Long (USA)                  Manor Motorsport                1m18.934s
17. Ernesto José Viso (VEN)             Manor Motorsport                1m18.975s
18. Stuart King (GBR)                   John Village Automotive         1m19.010s
19. Oilver Scullion (GBR)               Scorpio Motorsport              1m19.091s
20. Steve Kane (GBR)                    Mackie Motorsport               1m19.092s
21. Jamie Green (GBR)                   Fortec Motorsport               1m19.096s
22. James Rossiter (GBR)                Falcon Motorsport               1m19.144s
23. Hayanari Shimoda (JPN)              Paston Racing                   1m19.210s
24. James Murphy (JPN)                  Paston Racing                   1m19.292s
25. Luciano Garcia (BRA)                Fortec Motorsport               1m19.643s
26. Ben Reeves (GBR)                    Falcon Motorsport               1m19.710s
27. Ivor McCullough (GBR)               Status Motorsport               1m19.793s
28. Charles Hollings (GBR)              Mackie Motorsport               1m20.078s
29. Robert Scott (GBR)                  Aztec International             1m20.092s
30. Philip Kershaw (IRL)                Status Motorsport               1m20.405s
31. David Hall (IRL)                    Scorpio Motorsport              1m20.698s
32. Barry Sime (GBR)                    Team DFR                        1m21.202s
33. Vasilije Calasan (FRA)              John Village Automotive         1m21.841s

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