The Grid.co.uk the national & club motor racing website - est1998
|
The Grid.co.uk the national & club motor racing website - est1998 |
|
| Home |
 Features |
Calendar |
News
Archive |
11/56 MotorSport | |
|
Reports |
Gallery |
Links |
Classified |
|
|
TOP SIX FOR SMITH DURING BARCELONA WEST EUROPEAN CUP RUN
Returning to the car having made a highly successful Formula 3 debut with Fortec in the final two rounds of the British Formula 3 International Series at Donington Park just seven days ago, the Wolverhampton racer contested both Eurocup Formula Renault races and also the accompanying West European Cup encounters in Spain this weekend. Very much a mixed outing for Dean, the 20-year-old British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) Rising Star enjoyed good runs in the WEC races -- taking a top six finish during the first outing and backing the result up with eighth position in race two -- but the Eurocup action was blighted by yet more bad luck, as has unfortunately been the way all season. Dean's misfortune first reared its head during Saturday's Superpole session when grip problems resulted in a total lack of pace and he concluded the run at the tail of the order in 24th position. Highly frustrating for the West Midlands racer, especially as he had progressed through to Superpole with the sixth fastest time in his qualifying group, it also emerged in the first of the weekend's Eurocup races there was a damper issue which compounded his troubles. Although making a terrific start to Saturday afternoon's race, incredibly climbing from 24th place to 13th position by the time he exited the first corner, Dean slipped back to 18th position before the finish as his car began to lose between two and three seconds a lap. After the race he was promoted to 17th following a penalty for Czech driver Adam Kout. For Sunday's Eurocup race, Dean started 24th on the grid again and made stunning progress towards the top 15 early on. On about lap five though, his car started going slower and slower until his gearbox failed leading to a retirement on lap 13. He ends the 2008 Eurocup Formula Renault season 17th in the driver standings from over 40 drivers. "We thought the problem with the car after Superpole was the dampers and when we did change them the car felt much better", explained Dean, "After the second Eurocup race it was obviously clear we had gearbox problems too, it's been such a disappointing year in Eurocup as we've had nothing but bad luck. At least the two WEC races went well for us." Smith shines in West European Cup In qualifying for the weekend's two Formula Renault West European Cup encounters, Dean posted the 10th fastest time of 1m 46.492 seconds for race one while an almost identical second best lap of 1m 46.498 seconds placed him ninth on the grid for race two. The first WEC race, Sunday morning's opening track action, saw Dean finish in sixth place after a very strong run in the wet. Up to ninth on lap one, he gained another position on the third tour before leaping two further spots up the order on lap four where he remained to the chequered flag. Race two saw Dean produce another highly competitive run to conclude the weekend on a relative high with eighth position from ninth on the grid. Remaining in his starting place on lap one, the Fortec racer passed Anton Nebilitsky on lap two for eighth and went on to take his fourth top 10 finish in as many WEC outings. "Although the Eurocup races were luckless, things were a lot stronger for us in WEC", said Dean, "Changing the gearbox after the second Eurocup race helped massively and the car was much faster. I did have some understeer but other than that, it was much better. "It's not been the season we wanted but we're looking ahead to next year now. Hopefully we'll be able to secure the budget to race in Formula 3, that's my aim and I hope to be back out in an F3 car as soon as I can for some testing. I showed last weekend what I'm capable of by finishing fourth on my debut, I'm focused on racing in F3 in 2009 now."
F3 DEBUTANT SMITH SECURES INCREDIBLE TOP FOUR DOUBLE
Proving beyond any shadow of a doubt his status as a potential championship challenger if he manages to secure the required funds to contest a full season of Formula 3 racing in 2009, the Wolverhampton driver produced scintillating pace throughout the event. “It’s been an incredible weekend”, said a delighted Dean, “I’ve really enjoyed the racing and hopefully now people will be able to see what I can do at this level and we’ll be able to secure some more sponsorship to help fund a full season in Formula 3 next year.” Expecting to line up fourth on the grid for the first race, Dean instead found himself in fifth position after Nick Tandy had one of his disallowed laps from Saturday’s qualifying session re-instated. The Fortec Motorsport racer wasted no time in moving into the top four though at the start, a superb getaway allowing him to pass Tandy on the exit of Redgate Corner. Pressurising championship contender Oliver Turvey during the early stages for third place, Dean lapped with pace comparable to the trio of cars ahead – incidentally, the top three in the driver standings. He eventually concluded his first ever Formula 3 race in fourth place, just 1.8 seconds shy of the podium on his maiden outing in the car. Better was to follow during the final round of the 2008 campaign this afternoon though when the 20-year-old climbed from 10th on the grid to seal another top four result. Lapping even more impressively than he had in the day’s first encounter, the West Midlands ace posted the second fastest time of all with a lap of 1m 01.927 seconds. One of just four drivers to lap under the 1m 02 second barrier, Dean held the fastest time between laps eight and 18. Brendon Hartley, who had earlier pitted and rejoined on a clear track someway down on the leaders, managed to lap a couple of 10ths of a second faster in the end. Nonetheless, Dean’s pace was outstanding. Making a lightning start from row five, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star took ninth position through Redgate on lap one and then set about catching eighth placed Jay Bridger while also pulling away from Steven Guerrero in 10th position. On the sixth tour, Dean produced another exemplary move at Redgate to grab eighth place from Bridger and after reeling off a series of fantastically quick laps he latched onto the tail of Fortec team-mate Marcus Ericsson. Moving into seventh on lap 13 after Hartley pitted from fourth position, Dean then mounted a couple of challenges on Ericsson over the next few laps but to no avail. Determined to get ahead, he produced the move of the race on lap 20 by passing both Ericsson and fifth placed Oliver Oakes around the outside at Goddards Chicane. Quickly gaining on Sam Abay in fourth place, Dean made his sixth pass of the race on lap 27 at Redgate after the former made a mistake when under pressure and ran wide. With just two more laps remaining, there wasn’t time for the series rookie to grab a podium place but he was still less than a second shy of the rostrum at the chequer on lap 29.
“Fourth in the first race was fantastic, but to finish fourth from 10th on the grid in the second one was the real highlight. It was important for me to be the top Fortec driver this weekend so I’m absolutely delighted. The car was good and I think we’ve shown exactly what we can do in Formula 3.”
SMITH CONQUERS ATROCIOUS SPA CONDITIONS FOR TOP SIX FINISH
Bettering the eighth place he achieved during his debut WEC race at the world-famous Belgian venue on Saturday afternoon, the 20-year-old started today’s encounter from the third row of the grid after a great run in qualifying this morning – making good on his word from yesterday when he stated he had the pace to run in the top six. Lapping with a time of 2m 44.689 seconds during today’s qualifying session, Dean was comfortably the fastest of the British contingent competing at Spa by some 2.3 seconds and he also out-performed a vast number of the regulars from Eurocup Formula Renault. This afternoon’s WEC race took place in absolutely horrendous conditions with the spray, in particular, causing major problems for the drivers. Dean coped admirably though with the tricky wet circuit and maintained his top six placing throughout – the race red flagged a lap early due to several big accidents. “I’m really pleased to have finished in the top six and, more than that, to have had another clear weekend”, said Dean, “We’ve had so much bad luck in the Eurocup this year so it’s great to finish both races in the WEC this weekend and to have been competitive. “With the exception of SG Formula and Epsilon Euskadi, we were quicker than the others so it shows we’ve made good progress as the year has gone on. The car was oversteering quite a bit today but other than that it was pretty good. There wasn’t any overtaking up at the front due to the conditions but to maintain sixth was still a good result.”
TOP EIGHT FOR SMITH ON WEST EUROPEAN CUP DEBUT Fortec Motorsport’s Dean Smith raced to a top eight finish on his Formula Renault West European Cup (WEC) debut at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Saturday, 4th October, gaining two places from his starting position of 10th on the grid. Compromised in qualifying by slower traffic on his final lap, the Wolverhampton based driver – who regularly competes in Eurocup Formula Renault – had to settle for the 10th fastest time when, in actual fact, he was on course to secure a second row position at the very least. At the start of the race, Dean was boxed out and lost a handful of places to slip to 14th position but he reclaimed all four positions before the end of lap one and then set about pressuring team-mate Gabriel Dias and Manor Competition’s Alexander Sims. Passing both, the 20-year-old moved into the top eight and although right on the tail of seventh placed Nathanael Berthon through the corners, he didn’t have the straight-line speed to be able to make a decisive pass. Dean remained in eighth to the finish, just three 10ths of a second shy of the Frenchman and only a second away from the top six. “Eighth place isn’t too bad at all, it’s quite a good result as the vast majority of people from the Eurocup are here this weekend”, said Dean, “At the beginning quite a few drivers did jump the start so I’d already lost two places before we left the grid! I got sandwiched and slipped to 14th but I climbed back into the top 10 before the end of the first lap. “I passed my team-mate Gabriel (Dias) and then (Alexander) Sims to move into eighth. I tried to catch the others, I was about four 10ths of a second a lap quicker than the two ahead and much faster through the corners but on the straights we didn’t have the speed. With more straight-line speed, we’d have been sixth for sure. “The car felt quite good, we need to make a few tweaks for tomorrow but today was the first really dry run we’ve had all weekend. Our car is definitely top six material and that’s where I’ll be aiming to qualify in the morning for race two.” During pre-event testing ahead of the weekend, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star was fifth in the driest practice and second in the wet. Therefore, he headed into this morning’s qualifying session confident of a very competitive run. Unfortunately for Dean, a potential slot on the first couple of rows went astray after he was held up on his all-important final lap of qualifying when baulked by three cars. Costing him a full two seconds, his previous best time of 2m 26.868 seconds at least secured 10th on the grid during a session which started wet and ended with a drying line. He explained: “In the first sector I was quickest of anybody and the same in the final sector. We could have been on the front row but I should definitely have been third without those problems. It’s a shame as who knows what might
pics Insight F1 Motorsport
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 SEASON’S BEST EUROCUP FINISH FOR SMITH IN PORTUGAL
Lining up eighth on the grid, thanks to his second best time from Saturday’s Superpole session of 1m 37.064 seconds, the Fortec Motorsport racer made a good start and instantly climbed two positions into the top six. Although receiving contact twice on the opening lap, the 20-year-old British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star managed to emerge relatively unscathed but was unable to shake off the hotly pursuing Roberto Merhi for the duration of the 15 lap race. The Safety Car was deployed on two separate occasions, first between laps two and four when oil was dropped on the track after a lap one incident, and again on lap 13 with just two and half minutes remaining on the clock. With time ticking down, competitors were given one final racing lap at the re-start on lap 15 but the order remained the same with Dean taking the chequered flag just eight 10ths of a second behind fifth placed Pal Varhaug and four 10ths of a second ahead of Merhi. Dean’s best lap of 1m 38.288 seconds (153.2 km/h) was just half a second shy of the quickest of the race posted by winner Valtteri Bottas. Speaking after round 12, the West Midlands ace said: “It was good today, I made a nice start and although I did get hit at the first corner and again at the third corner, I was ok but just couldn’t break the tow of (Roberto) Merhi behind me. Therefore, I couldn’t catch the car ahead as I had to bear in mind Merhi was right on my tail all the while. “Overall, this weekend has been a lot better than recent races. Estoril is a good track but it’s not actually a circuit which suits me, so to score points in both races is good. We visit Catalunya next and I know that’s a track which I really do enjoy. Now we have more straight-line speed from the car I’m confident we can fight for the podium there.”
VALIANT SMITH BATTLES HARD FOR ESTORIL TOP 10
The 20-year-old from Wolverhampton, driving for British squad Fortec Motorsport, battled serious understeer throughout the 11th round of the season after his car suffered damage very early on in the race. However, he valiantly held on to 10th position and still managed to lap within 0.4 seconds of top four pace to secure another points result. After running very strongly during collective testing on Friday, the West Midlands racer headed into Saturday morning’s Group A qualifying session confident of a strong run and the potential to secure a season’s best qualifying performance. With track conditions having changed though, Dean found his car to be less competitive than on Friday and he was disappointed with the 12th fastest time of 1m 37.080 seconds (155.1 km/h), eight 10ths of a second shy of pole position. Nonetheless, his performance did allow him to progress through to the all-important Superpole session. During Superpole, having made some changes to the car’s set-up, Dean was just half a second away from the quickest time of all but, such was the competitiveness of the period, he was still further down the order than he would have liked in 13th place – his best lap a time of 1m 36.858 seconds (155.4 km/h). The British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star was on course to lap quicker with around four minutes of Superpole remaining after posting his best first sector of the session. However, a red flag incident prevented this from happening. Subsequently, two drivers received penalties and so Dean would start the race from 11th on the grid. Making a good getaway, Dean moved into the top 10 almost immediately and then, on lap two, the Safety Car was deployed. By this point, one of the barge boards on Dean’s car had broken away so, from that point on, he struggled with major understeer. At the re-start on lap seven, the Fortec driver tried to stay as close as possible to the competitors ahead and while managing to remain on terms, the problem with his car prevented Dean from making a serious challenge. Even so, claiming his second top 10 finish on the trot was a good return all things considered. “I’m fairly pleased to have finished in the points again”, said Dean, “In practice everything was good but then the track changed quite a lot ahead of qualifying and we just didn’t have the same pace. We qualified for Superpole though which was the main thing. “At the start of the race I managed to gain one position straight away and then we had a Safety Car for a few laps. Unfortunately, one of the barge boards came off the car which made it very hard to stay in the top 10 as I had tons of understeer. It was hard work to try and maintain my place but I managed to.” He added: “Considering the barge board problem, I’m happy enough to have scored a point today and we start eighth tomorrow so I’m hoping for a good run. The car has pretty good pace, we just need it to be in one piece and then we can fight for bigger points!”
SECOND TOP 10 OF EUROCUP SEASON FOR SMITH AT LE MANS
Undoubtedly the unluckiest driver in Eurocup Formula Renault this year, the 20-year-old suffered misfortune once again during round nine on Saturday, 6th September, when he was taken out of the race at the first chicane by an errant rival. Making an outstanding start, the Fortec Motorsport ace had brilliantly climbed into sixth position from 11th on the grid but as he exited the chicane he was T-boned by a car travelling straight through the gravel trap, resulting in a bitterly disappointing retirement. Thankfully Sunday’s encounter, round 10, proved to be more straightforward for the talented West Midlands racer although the opening lap wasn’t without some controversy as several cars cut the first chicane to jump ahead. Starting in eighth position, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star gained two places off the start and looked in good shape to challenge for his best result of the year but as he exited the chicane cleanly, several other cars straight-lined the turn to push Dean down to 11th position. He eventually came home in 10th place to achieve his second points-scoring result of the 2008 season but the Fortec racer was rightfully disappointed at the outcome due to the lap one incident. Dean commented: “I did quite well off the start, I managed to pass a couple of cars and moved into about sixth as we went through the first corner but then a lot of people cut the chicane so from sixth, I ended up being about 11th or 12th. We’re expecting several people to be penalised so the result may change. Realistically, we should at least be eighth. “Today’s race was tricky at first as a lot of the other drivers had experience of running in the earlier WEC race. As soon as I got into my rhythm I was ok, towards the end I was catching (Alexander) Sims but we ran out of time. We didn’t have a great set-up but it wasn’t too bad. It’s just such a shame we were taken out of Saturday’s race.” Beginning the weekend strongly, Dean lapped with the fourth quickest time in wet conditions on Friday morning during the first collective test session before improving to third fastest in the second run. Qualifying saw the Fortec driver continue his impressive showing with the third quickest lap of 1m 55.693 seconds (130.1 km/h), easily good enough to progress from his group to the Superpole session. Conditions improved in time for Superpole and although running strongly early on, Dean had to settle for 11th on the grid for round nine with a time of 1m 38.951 seconds (152.1 km/h) due to the fact he was running a wet set-up and dry tyres while several rivals gambled on dry settings which came into their own during the final minutes. With the first of the weekend’s races lasting little more than a third of a lap for Dean, he wasn’t able to show his undoubted pace and it was all the more disappointing considering his terrific start. He commented: “We had a guaranteed sixth place in Saturday’s race, my luck is just terrible – I can’t believe we were taken out again. I made a good start, moved into 10th place and then as we went through the chicane I decided to hold the inside line. “Some cars made contact but I avoided all of that and coming out of the chicane we had sixth place guaranteed. As I straightened up coming out of the turn, a car behind must have gone straight over the gravel and into the side of my car. It’s just unbelievable the bad luck we’re having this year.” Lining up an improved eighth on the grid for Sunday’s race, Dean achieving a second fastest lap in Superpole of 1m 39.101 seconds, the Fortec driver was just six 10ths of a second shy of the pole position time – an impressive effort. Although the second race didn’t bring the resulted he wanted – particularly in view of the number of cars which wrongly got ahead of him by cutting the chicane on lap one – Dean was nonetheless satisfied to at least finish in the points.
SMITH SECURES MAIDEN EUROCUP POINTS IN GERMANY
Racing with Daventry-based Fortec Motorsport, the team which ran the 20-year-old to the runner-up spot in the 2007 Formula Renault UK Championship, Dean arrived in Germany hoping for a change in fortune after a tough start to his first year of international car racing and this he got with a couple of sound performances. Against the established might of the European opposition, the Wolverhampton based driver recorded a fine seventh place finish during the first of the weekend’s races on Saturday, 30th August, having climbed from 13th on the grid during a very competitive run. The result bagged him four championship points. Finishing as the top British driver, Dean went on to add a hard-fought 12th place result to his tally during Sunday’s second encounter. Battling against what appeared to be a slow puncture on his 2.0-litre Formula Renault race car, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star did well to finish so close to the top 10. Speaking after the two Nurburgring races, Dean commented: “Saturday’s race was good, I passed four cars off the start which was great and then about four laps later I overtook another two in one go. I was definitely catching the cars ahead but we didn’t quite have enough in hand to make any further places. “Still, seventh place was a good result – I’m happy with that. It was good to get a few points, especially as we’d been pretty quick all weekend. The first qualifying run was ok but we made a change before the second session which didn’t work out. That was the only bad part of the weekend really in terms of performance.” Dean added: “Sunday’s race wasn’t as good for us, one of the cars in front of me had a problem with his wing which broke up and shattered all over my car. Carbon fibre ended up flying all over the place and we think it might have gone into one of my tyres as the handling wasn’t good after that. It’s quite likely I had a slow puncture. “I suppose 12th position wasn’t too bad in the end, if we can get in the top 10 next weekend at Le Mans I’ll be fairly happy. Hopefully we’ll be able to be competitive and then during the break after next weekend’s races, we can try and take more steps forward with the car.” During Friday’s first collective test session, Dean was fourth fastest having posted a time of 2m 02.864 seconds (150.8 km/h). During the second session, the British ace improved his time by three and a half seconds to 1m 59.280 seconds (155.4 km/h) and was eighth. Into Saturday morning’s qualifying sessions, Dean was fourth fastest in his group with a time of 1m 58.313 seconds (156.6 km/h) and therefore proceeded to the Superpole session where he secured the 13th best time of 1m 58.587 seconds (156.3 km/h) In the first of the weekend’s two races, Dean fought his way through to seventh position in the end, a great drive to bag the first Eurocup Formula Renault points of his maiden season of international car racing – just 10 seconds behind the race winner after 13 laps of the Nurburgring track. Progress in race two wasn’t as forthcoming due to the handling troubles. Starting in 14th place by way of his second fastest lap in the Superpole session, the 2005 Formula BMW UK Champion did aim to climb into the top 10 once again but a possible puncture restricted his pace and performance. Taking the chequered flag in 13th position, Dean gained one further position after the race due to a time penalty served on Jean Eric Vergne. Considering Dean’s car issues, his best race lap of 2m 00.298 seconds (154.1 km/h) was almost identical to that of the drivers contesting fifth and sixth places, underlining his continued progress.
|
|
Dean
Smith concluded his maiden season of international car racing with his
busiest outing of the year at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona over
the weekend, 18th/19th October - the British ace taking part in a total
of four races at the wheel of his Fortec Motorsport entered Formula
Renault. 
British
Formula 3 International Series debutant Dean Smith stunned the category
regulars during the 2008 season finale at Donington 
Wolverhampton’s
Dean Smith produced an excellent performance in absolutely atrocious
conditions at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday, 5th October, to record a
deserved top six finish during the second Formula Renault West European
Cup race of the weekend. 
Euro
cup Formula Renault star Dean Smith ran strongly to his best finish of
the campaign at Estoril in Portugal earlier today, Sunday, 28th
September – the Wolverhampton driver securing a top six finish during
the 12th round of the 2008 championship. 
Dean
Smith performed well at Estoril in Portugal on Saturday, (27th
September), to secure his third top 10 finish of the Eurocup Formula
Renault season – damage to one of his car’s barge boards making any kind
of points-scoring result a very tough prospect. 
Dean
Smith raced to his second top 10 result of the 2008 Eurocup Formula
Renault season at the Le Mans Bugatti Circuit in France on Sunday, 7th
September – a good conclusion to the weekend for the British driver
after he was forced out of Saturday’s encounter when running in sixth
position. 
Dean Smith secured
his first championship points of the season at the Nurburgring in
Germany over the weekend, 30th/31st August, during the latest instalment
of the Eurocup Formula Renault season.