UK: CRS Racing Croft summary

POINTS BUT NO PODIUMS AT CROFT

The CRS Formula Renault team came away from Croft with more Championship points but no podium finishes after a hard weekend of racing.

After his weekend-to-forget at Oulton Park, Josh Scott was pleased to get his 2009 campaign back on track with two top eight finishes, mirroring his performance at Donington Park a few weeks ago. The Australian driver recently commented on the fact that the Formula Renault Championship is more competitive than ever this year so he knows that every point is going to count.

Harry Tincknell didn't fare as well as he did at Oulton Park two weeks ago but he did finish 11th and ninth, which were improvements on his qualifying positions, and he is still riding high in the Graduate Cup standings. Harry is taking part in two Formula Renault races at Oschersleben this weekend so he is getting in extra practice before the next UK rounds.

Lewis Williamson was the best CRS performer in qualifying with two brilliant fifth places. Unfortunately he was unable to turn these into podium finishes, especially in race two when he received a penalty for a grid infringement. Nonetheless Lewis showed that the speed is there so he will be back on the podium soon.

Matias Laine is another CRS driver who mastered qualifying, taking two top six grid positions at Croft. Like Lewis though he was unable to convert these to podiums and came home 12th and 10th in the two races. Matias is making very good progress now so he should be on top form at Silverstone in three weeks' time.

Also making progress in qualifying is Michael Lyons, who took 15th and 14th positions on Saturday. He improved to 13th in race one but dropped to 22nd in race two. Michael is on a steep learning curve this year but the results are getting better by the race for him.

WEATHER WATCH

CRS' GT Team Manager, Malcolm Swetnam, was at Croft this weekend and managed to sign up Josh and Harry to the CRS Weather Watch job at the Spa 24 Hours next month. For those of you who remember Jeremy Metcalfe and Michael Meadows doing this last year you will know what the lads have let themselves in for! It's a definite advantage at Spa to have spotters on the hill and it's a great experience for the young drivers to see the work that goes into an event like the Spa 24 Hours.

We'll let you know how they get on, but in the meantime the next two rounds of the Formula Renault UK Championship will take place at Silverstone in three weeks as part of the World Series by Renault race meeting.

-credit: crscuderia.com