FPAUDI: Donington: Race one report

BRIDGMAN ON THE BRINK OF TITLE WIN

Clarke goes defensive to claim third

Tim Bridgman is on the verge of claiming the Visma Formula Championship after a dominant win at Donington Park in round 16. The Laser Motor Company-backed Bridgman started from pole and led for the entire race with only Matt Hamilton challenging.

Hamilton started well by gaining one place from Luciano Bacheta, who also lost a place to Richard Kent. Keen to keep himself in contention, Bacheta was pushing too hard to make up places though the bottom of the Craner Curves and ran onto the grass, losing six places. Jack Clarke had a good start to the race, capitalising on Bacheta's mistake and moving into third.

Clarke wasn't going to have an easy race however, as Stefan Wilson was hunting for valuable championship points. "I just went into survival mode. I wasn't as quick as Stefan had to get really defensive," said Clarke after the race. Clarke had to spend the race fighting off five other drivers mid-race, with Jason Moore, Richard Kent, and Luciano Bacheta forming a long train. It was Wilson that proved to be hungriest of the pack, using his boost button on a number of occasions to go side by side with Clarke through the Craner Curves . The Surrey-based racer used his experience however to hold off Wilson to finish third.

The battle for third meant that Tim Bridgman and Matt Hamilton were able to extend their lead and had their own private battle. "Tim was awesome in the middle section of the race," said Hamilton after the race. Strategic use of the boost button meant that Bridgman was able to extend slender lead. "Matty and I had it pretty straightforward," commented Bridgman after the race. "I had been saving a couple of shots of boost for the last lap but the red flag put an end to my chances," said Hamilton.

Round 17 of the championship takes place at 15:10 this afternoon, with Stefan Wilson on pole. <pre> Visma Formula Palmer Audi Championship

Race 1 Top Ten

 1. Tim Bridgman        18:03.656
 2. Matt Hamilton       18:04.020
 3. Jack Clarke         18:21.301
 4. Stefan Wilson       18:21.711
 5. Richard Kent        18:22.161
 6. Ivan Lukashevic     18:22.443
 7. Jason Moore         18:23.278
 8. Luciano Bacheta     18:23.837
 9. Richard Plant       18:23.880
10. Maxim Snegirev      18:31.244

-credit: fpa