From fifth on the grid, Kral made a good start and passed Fortec drivers Marcus Ericsson and Henry Arundel on the first lap. A great move round the outside of Oliver Webb (Carlin Motorsport) into Club for second place left him in a position to chase down Surtees for the lead. Just two laps later, Kral was right on the gearbox of his fellow 16-year-old and made a repeat of his earlier move into Club to take the lead.
Kral, who was still in pain from an injury sustained in qualifying, commented: “This was the hardest race of the year so far; every time you pass someone they attack you straight back! It was very hard to overtake Surtees because the wind was giving me a lot of understeer at Church, but he was braking a little earlier than me for the chicane and I managed to pass him.” Pole-sitter Surtees pushed Kral as the pair broke away from the chasing pack but he was unable to get past the Czech. “It’s unfortunate that he got away from me,” Surtees commented. “Even after he got ahead I could stay with him and was still thinking about getting the lead back. It is a little bit frustrating not to have got the win, but I’m still happy enough. Second is good points, it’s all good experience and I’m learning more every race.” Henry Arundel (Fortec Motorsport) had an action-packed race, in which he dropped from third to sixth but fought his way back up, eventually passing team-mate Ericsson to claim the final spot on the podium.
Ericsson remains in the Championship lead, finishing second Rookie, in fourth position. Following his great qualifying performance on Saturday to put him second on the grid, Oliver Webb (Carlin Motorsport) rounded out the top Rookie trio despite a disappointing race leaving him sixth overall.
The drivers now have nearly a month off to prepare for their next outing, when the Formula BMW UK Championship 2007 will head north to Croft for some more great racing action.
Results – Round 6 – 16 Laps = 37.70 miles.
Pos Driver Nat Team Time 1. Josef Kral CZ (Double R Racing) 20:42.276 2. Henry Surtees GB (Carlin Motorsport) R 20:45.025 3. Henry Arundel GB (Fortec Motorsport) 20:51.341 4. Jonathan Legris GB (Motaworld Racing) 20:54.613 5. Marcus Ericsson SWE (Fortec Motorsport) R 20:54.958 6. Oliver Webb GB (Carlin Motorsport) R 20:57.052 7. Sam Abay AUS (Team Loctite) 20:57.275 8. Carlos Huertas COL (Double R Racing) R 20:59.976 9. Daniel McKenzie GB (Fortec Motorsport) 21:01.558 10. Valle Makela SF (Nexa Racing) 21:02.626 11. Kimiya Sato J (Nexa Racing) 21:04.912 12. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs GB (Fortec Motorsport) R 21:04.914 13. Tom Gladdis GB (Nexa Racing) R 21:07.941 14. Callum Holland GB (Nexa Racing) R 21:12.165 15. Jordan Williams GB (Team Loctite) 21:23.711 16. Rupert Svendsen-Cook GB (Team Loctite) R 21:33.978 17. Adam Butler GB (Motaworld Racing) R 21:42.375
Not classified: Anthony Comas F (Victory Engineering) 0 Laps
Fastest Lap: Josef Kral (Double R Racing) 1m 16.648s, 110.64mph, 178.06kph Pole Position – Henry Surtees (Carlin Motorsport) R 1m 16.011s
R indicates driver eligible for Rookie Cup
Championship Points Tables
Drivers 1. Ericsson (1 win) 226, 2. Arundel (1 win) 216, 3. Surtees 195, 4. Kral (3 wins) 179, 5. McKenzie 176, 6. Legris 174, 7. Webb 172, 8. Makela (1 win) 171, 9. Quaife-Hobbs 149, 10. Sato 142.
Rookies 1. Ericsson 226, 2. Surtees 195, 3. Webb 172, 4. Quaife-Hobbs 149, 5. Huertas 130, 6. Gladdis 88, 7. Holland 64, 8. Svendsen-Cook 48, 9. Butler 34.
Teams 1. Fortec Motorsport 452, 2. Carlin Motorsport 366, 3. Nexa Racing 326, 4. Double R Racing 308, 5. Team Loctite 228, 6. Motaworld Racing 208, 7. Victory Engineering 64, 8. Hyperion Motorsport 32.
Rounds 7 & 8 of the Championship will be at Croft on 2/3 June. |