UK: Series Silverstone race two report

BUZAID BLITZES TO MEMORABLE SILVERSTONE DOUBLE

Fortec Motorsport's Adriano Buzaid (Oxford) scorched to victory in round 12 of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship at Silverstone on Sunday, 8th June. On a day when 70,000 spectators were in attendance for the free World Series by Renault event at the Grand Prix circuit, the Brazilian took two great wins to move into second place in the drivers' standings.

Like Buzaid, CR Scuderia Formula Renault's Adam Christodoulou (Lichfield) repeated his round 11 performance from earlier in the day with second place, while Manor Competition's Alexander Sims (Peterborough) secured third with just two laps remaining. Christodoulou retains the lead of the championship by 44 points.

The start of the race saw Manor's Kris Loane (Kesh) left standing on the grid in fifth place as the rest of the field swerved past him. Adam Christodoulou immediately darted into second place behind Buzaid with his cousin Riki Christodoulou (Sutton Coldfield) following him through into third ahead of James Calado (Cropthorne). At the end of the lap, Calado tagged Riki Christodoulou after being nudged into a slide. Calado spent the remainder of the race battling with a damaged front wing, while Christodoulou's race was entirely compromised due to a puncture.

Apotex Scorpio Motorsport's Australian driver Josh Scott (Loughborough) had the best opening lap of all, repeating his similar heroics from Thruxton with a surge from ninth on the grid to third. The tangle between the two Fortec Motorsport cars saw Calado continue in fourth but come under extreme pressure from Alpine Motorsport's Dean Stoneman (Southampton).

Buzaid immediately set about opening an advantage over Adam Christodoulou, while in midfield Apotex Scorpio's Kieren Clark (Royston) was holding off his more experienced team-mate Will Bratt (Banbury) in ninth. Mark Burdett Motorsport's Jesse Krohn (Skegness), competing only days after joining the team, was showing full commitment for the second successive race as he ran sideways through Becketts on lap three but holding off CR Scuderia's Sten Pentus (Bardon) for 11th.

On lap four, Stoneman and Sims closed the gap to Calado at Stowe but Calado was given brief respite when Sims passed Stoneman for fourth a few corners later. On the run to Abbey chicane, Sims moved to the left and fought wheel-to-wheel to complete an excellent overtaking manoeuvre. By lap six, Calado's compromised pace slowed enough to see both Sims and Stoneman pass through Priory.

Calado lost two further places on lap seven as his Fortec team-mate Oli Webb (Knutsford) and CR Scuderia's Scott Jenkins (Bristol) came past. Meanwhile, running on his own more than half a lap down, Riki Christodoulou set the NGK fastest lap of the race at 1min 48.804s (105.68mph) to score two bonus championship points, but it was scant consolation for the man lying second in the standings before the race.

On lap eight, Clark passed Calado for ninth but amazingly the driver backed by the Racing Steps Foundation fought back to regain the place. When Loane, who drove a great recovery race after his poor start, then overtook Clark, he too found Calado too tough a prospect to pass and he clung on for ninth place despite the lack of front downforce.

Lap eight also saw Sims set his personal best lap to that point to narrow the gap to Scott and he continued to reel in the Australian on the next two laps. Scott responded with his personal best time on lap 12, but two laps later Sims made the decisive move for third at Stowe to cap a great drive.

At the head of the field, Buzaid began the last of the 16 laps with a commanding lead of more than eight seconds with Adam Christodoulou powerless to stop the charging Brazilian. Buzaid kept his advantage until the flag to thrust himself firmly into the title picture.

Commenting after the race, Buzaid said: "It's gone very well for me at this event with two pole positions, two wins and the fastest lap of the weekend. The car was perfectly set up for me and I'm 100 per cent confident in myself and the team that we can keep on winning races for the rest of the season."

Second-placed Adam Christodoulou said: "I tried to make a move on Adriano on the first lap but, just like the first race, he was able to get away early on and my tyres wore out too much to challenge him. I was then concentrating on getting the two points for fastest lap but just missed out. It's still looking good overall for the championship and that's my main focus."

Third-placed Sims said: "It needed some changes from the first race but we had the car sorted for this afternoon and it showed in that race. I knew I was catching Josh and made the move to the inside. He then tried to brake later but it only made him run wide. I know I need to start picking up wins but I can take positives away from the weekend."

Rounds 13 and 14 of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship take place at Norfolk's Snetterton circuit on 12th/13th July. The postponed round 10, originally due to be held at Croft, will also be held at Snetterton.

-credit: renaultsport.co.uk