Kral takes Championship lead with win at Snetterton

Round 14 winner Kral, who also finished second in Round 13, said: ”My start for race one was perfect but Ericsson was very quick so I had to defend hard. I touched the white line at the first corner and ran wide. I’m disappointed as it was my mistake. I nearly spun but managed to hold it, but it let Ericsson through easily. I made up for it with race two though so I’m very happy. It was my goal to lead the Championship and I’ve finally done it! Now I just have to hold on to it for four more races”.

After a mistake cost him the lead in Round 13, Kral was boxed in behind Ericsson at the start of Round 14. He briefly lost a place to Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Fortec Motorsport) but by the end of the 18 laps he had a comfortable 5.8 second advantage. His sixth victory of the season leaves him with a nine point lead at the top of the Championship with only four races to go.

After winning race one, Ericsson commented: “I didn’t make a good start again but it makes it more interesting for the fans! I was catching Kral quickly, but he made a mistake and I was able to go through quite easily.” Joy turned to disappointment in Round 14 when a clutch problem dropped him down the field to end an eventual 12th, dropping him to third in the Championship.

Henry Arundel (Fortec Motorsport) continued his good form, a fifth and second place respectively in Rounds 13 and 14 keep him second in the Championship behind new leader Kral, and two points ahead of Ericsson.

“I made a good start in race two and tried to push to make a gap but Kral was just too quick. It’s incredible that I’ve managed to keep myself in the title fight with only one win, I need to add some more to that tally before the year is out!” Arundel said.

Henry Surtees (Carlin Motorsport) held off Valle Makela (Nexa Racing) to finish third in Round 13. A great drive from the back of the grid, due to a penalty for a technical infringement in qualifying, saw him carve through the field to finish eighth in Round 14, breaking the circuit lap record on his way with a time of 1m09.848s. Makela made a welcome return to the podium in Round 14 claiming third spot.

Ericsson claimed the Rookie spoils for Round 13 with Quaife-Hobbs’ fourth place in Round 14 giving him his first Rookie win of the year after a weekend of much improvement.

With everything changing at the top of the table the stakes are still high with only four races remaining. The series now returns to the familiar of surroundings of Brands Hatch where the season began back in April, so with knowledge of the circuit, Rounds 15 and 16 of the Formula BMW UK Championship are set to be just as exciting.

Results – Round 13 – 18 Laps = 35.17 miles.

Pos Driver Nat Team  Time
1. Marcus Ericsson  SWE (Fortec Motorsport) R 21:31.653
2. Josef Kral  CZ (Double R Racing)  21:35.234
3. Henry Surtees  GB (Carlin Motorsport) R 21:37.822
4. Valle Makela SF (Nexa Racing)  21:39.488
5. Henry Arundel GB (Fortec Motorsport)  21:40.494
6. Jordan Williams GB (Team Loctite)  21:40.715
7. Oliver Webb  GB (Carlin Motorsport)  R 21:45.733
8. Sam Abay AUS (Team Loctite)  21:47.853
9. Kimiya Sato  J (Nexa Racing)   21:52.327
10. Carlos Huertas  COL (Double R Racing) R 21:57.323
11. Rupert Svendsen-Cook GB (Team Loctite) R 22:04.185
12. Tom Gladdis  GB (Team BRD)  R 22:10.449
13. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs GB (Fortec Motorsport) R 22:11.553
14. Jonathan Legris GB (Motaworld Racing)   1 Lap
15. Doru Sechelariu* ROM (Double R Racing)  1 Lap

Not classified:
Anthony Comas F (Victory Engineering)  7 Laps
Daniel McKenzie GB (Fortec Motorsport)  1 Lap
  
Fastest Lap:
Marcus Ericsson (Fortec Motorsport) 1m 10.178s, 100.13mph, 161.14kph
Pole Position – Marcus Ericsson (Fortec Motorsport) 1m 09.289s

Results – Round 14 – 18 Laps = 35.17 miles.

Pos Driver Nat Team Time
1. Josef Kral  CZ (Double R Racing)  21:15.140
2. Henry Arundel GB (Fortec Motorsport)  21:20.958
3. Valle Makela SF (Nexa Racing)  21:21.647
4. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs GB (Fortec Motorsport) R 21:22.945
5. Sam Abay AUS (Team Loctite)  21:24.872
6. Kimiya Sato  J (Nexa Racing)   21:25.214
7. Anthony Comas F (Victory Engineering)  21:32.503
8. Henry Surtees  GB (Carlin Motorsport) R 21:34.070
9. Carlos Huertas  COL (Double R Racing) R 21:34.278
10. Tom Gladdis  GB (Team BRD)  R 21:34.360
11. Rupert Svendsen-Cook GB (Team Loctite) R 21:35.302
12. Marcus Ericsson  SWE (Fortec Motorsport) R 21:41.236
13. Jordan Williams GB (Team Loctite)  21:44.286

Not classified:
Daniel McKenzie GB (Fortec Motorsport)  16 Laps
Doru Sechelariu*  ROM (Double R Racing)  13 Laps
Oliver Webb  GB (Carlin Motorsport)  R 9 Laps
Jonathan Legris GB (Motaworld Racing)   8 Laps

Fastest Lap:
Henry Surtees (Carlin Motorsport) 1m 09.849s, 100.60mph, 161.90kph
Pole Position – Marcus Ericsson (Fortec Motorsport) 1m 09.863s

R indicates driver eligible for Rookie Cup

*not eligible for Championship points

Championship Points Tables

Drivers
1. Kral (6 wins) 503, 2. Arundel 494 (1 win), 3. Ericsson (3 wins) 492, 4. Surtees 421 (1 win), 5. Sato (1 win) 394, 6. Makela (1 win) 390, 7. Legris 348 (1 win), 8. Abay 333, 9. Quiafe-Hobbs 315, 10. McKenzie 308..

Rookies
1. Ericsson 492, 2. Surtees 421, 3. Quaife-Hobbs 315, 4. Webb 294, 5. Huertas 290, 6. Gladdis 206, 7. Svendsen-Cook 158, 8. Holland 76, 9. Butler 60, 10. Bell 30.

Teams
1. Fortec Motorsport 1038, 2. Double R Racing 796, 3. Nexa Racing 796, 4. Carlin Motorsport 714, 5. Team Loctite 604, 6.  Motaworld Racing 438, 7. Victory Engineering 160, 8. Team BRD 118, 9. Hyperion Motorsport 32.

Rounds 15 and 16 of the Championship will be at Brands Hatch on 18/19 August.