Formula Renault UK official pre season testing gets underway
Racing Steps Foundation driver Jake Dennis fired the opening salvo on the first day of official pre-season testing for the Formula Renault UK Championship by laying down a 1:03.851secs marker at a bright and mild Donington Park near Derby today.
The Fortec Motorsports driver set his time midway through the afternoon session as temperatures hovered around the 14 degrees Celsius mark at the 1.9mile track. His times were constant throughout the day over his nearest rival.
“Today was really good for us,” said Dennis. “We’ve been fast on old and new tyres and really consistent which is good for the three races at each round this year and having that consistency is certainly going to help me”. “I was only two tenths off the pole time from last year on old tyres when everyone else was on new so everything is going to plan and looking good so far.”
Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Josh Webster was second quickest with a time of 1:04.041secs. The 3rd placed Finals Series driver steadily lapped near the top of the timesheets over both sessions. Josh Hill returns to the championship fresh from the Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand, driving for Fortec.
Making their Formula Renault UK debuts this year and also out in action today were Fortec Motorsport’s Dan De Zille and Indian driver Shahaan Engineer. Dutchman Jeroen Slaghekke, a potential signing testing with Mark Burdett’s Motorsport, completed the line-up.
Testing continues next week at Snetterton.
Test times – am / pm – fastest in bold
1. Jake Dennis Fortec Motorsport 1:04.402s / 1:03.851s
2. Josh Webster Mark Burdett Motorsport 1:04.613s / 1:04.041s
3. Jeroen Slaghekke Mark Burdett Motorsport 1.05.666s / 1:04.164s
4. Shahaan Engineer Fortec Motorsport 1:05.319s / 1:04.343s
5. Josh Hill Fortec Motorsport 1:04.917s / 1:04.354s
6. Dan De Zille Fortec Motorsport 1:04.623s / 1:04.471s
-ends-
Media Invitation: The annual pre-season Media Day launch will be held at Brands Hatch Circuit, Kent on Tuesday 20 March – an opportunity to meet the championship’s star drivers prior to the opening race event of 2012 Media wishing to attend please email gaenor@sro.co.uk
A full set of timing results and championship standings can be found here: www.tsl-timing.com
For further information: http://www.renaultsport.co.uk/championships/formularenaultuk/Default.aspx
twitter.com/FRenaultUK | facebook.com/FRenault2.0UK | frenaultuk.wordpress.com
Press images of the championship can be downloaded from: www.jakobebrey.com/renault
Audio interviews: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/formula-renault-uk-audio-podcasts/id427665511
CERTINA Formula Renault 2.0 UK 