Latest news from Sean Walkinshaw Racing… For immediate release: Sunday, 20th July 2014 Ref: SWR14-12 ALBERT CLIMBS INTO SERIES TOP TWELVE AT RAIN-HIT OULTON PARK British single-seater racer Jordan Albert secured one of the best results of his maiden season in the BRDC Formula 4 Championship at a rain-hit Oulton Park International Circuit on Saturday, 19th July, to climb into the top 12 of the driver standings for leading squad SWR. Although the visit to Cheshire was another blighted by misfortune and factors out of the Chipping Norton team’s control, Albert’s hat-trick of points finishes during the fourth event of the Formula 4 season, including a best result of seventh place in round 12, provided some welcome cheer. Nicolas Beer, aiming to reassert himself in the championship after some luckless outings of late, was caught-up in trouble not of his making in race three but did manage to take away a top eight result in round 11 on Saturday morning, hoisting the Dane up two places in the standings into 13th position. Venezuela’s Diego Borrelli, meanwhile, claimed an unexpected best of eighth position in the final outing of the weekend from 20th on the grid. He departed Oulton Park still holding 17th place in the championship standings. “We all came to Oulton with high hopes of a some improved fortune but, unbelievably, it’s been another weekend of bad luck”, reflected Mike Gomme, SWR’s Commercial Manager, “Obviously, we were delighted to see Jordan take one of his best finishes of the year in the last race, the same goes for Diego too. “Nicolas deserved much more from the weekend, a late call for slicks in race three should have paid off with a really strong result and it looked like that would be the case early on. It’s not been a great weekend overall, but we’ll be aiming to put that right on home ground at Silverstone next month.” Beer began round 10 on Friday, 18th July, from 13th position and although edged back a spot on the first lap, the Dane gained two places on the fourth tour. Although faster than Diego Menchaca ahead, Beer remained bottled up behind the Mexican to the finish on lap 12. The SWR driver did, though, move up into 11th position four laps from the conclusion at the expense of Rodrigo Fonseca. Albert ended the opening lap in 18th position, having started in 16th place, but regained his lost ground and embarked on an entertaining scrap with Michael Claessens. Back into 16th spot on lap four, Albert grabbed 15th place from Claessens on lap nine at Old Hall but was re-challenged soon after to end the encounter where he started. Borrelli had a relatively uneventful race from the 10th row of the grid, running in 20th place until the fourth tour when he moved up a position. Pushed back again on lap seven, the Venezuelan regained 19th place a couple of laps from the end after Fonseca pitted. Rain on Saturday morning left the track surface incredibly wet ahead of round 11 and although the precipitation ceased roughly half an hour before the scheduled start, race officials elected to begin the action behind the Safety Car. Racing proper started on lap two with Beer holding 11th place, Albert maintaining 16th position and Borrelli in 19th spot. The battle at the tail end of the top 10 was incredibly tight and on lap six Beer was able to move into ninth at the expense of Menchaca. One lap later, issues for Sennan Fielding enabled Beer to climb into the top eight to cap a strong drive. Borrelli slipped back to 20th place on the first lap at full racing speed but an excursion for Alfredo Zabalza enabled the Venezuelan to move back into 19th position. Subsequently, on lap four, Borrelli moved into 18th spot but after slipping to 19th again he unfortunately retired on lap nine after a spin. Team-mate Albert, meanwhile, made his way into the top 15 on lap four and, like Beer, profited from some misfortune for others to gain places during the second half of the race. In the end, he worked his way into a highly creditable 13th place, just 0.5 seconds shy of the top 12. The weather continued to be a factor ahead of race three and the SWR drivers were split on their choice of tyres, Beer made a late call to change to slick Yokohamas while Albert and Borrelli chose to stay with treaded rubber. It soon became apparent dry tyres were the way to go and Beer moved up from ninth into seventh place over the first three laps. Unfortunately, though, avoidance of Menchaca’s stricken car on lap four led to an enforced trip across the grass and a resulting pit-stop to clear the radiators. He did manage to recover strongly into the top 12, but spun out on a damp patch with four laps remaining. Although not able to match the pace of those drivers on slicks, Albert and Borrelli both stayed out of trouble – unlike many others – and the former was able to take one of his best finishes of the season in seventh place, from 16th on the grid. Holding ninth into the final lap, when two rivals erroneously pitted before the chequered flag it gave Albert the chance to gain another couple of positions. Borrelli, on course for a strong top 10 finish from 20th on the grid, also profited from the same error to finish an unexpected eighth. Next on the BRDC Formula 4 Championship schedule is a return to Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in Northamptonshire, over the weekend 16th/17th August, for rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the season.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 07:34:48 +0000
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