The Grid

Successful motor racing team Hillspeed enjoyed a very packed year in 2008, combining championship winning action in Formula Renault with participation in historic Formula One and central involvement with the development of a brand new Formula Ford chassis.

Priding itself on the highest standards of preparation and fielding cars with race winning competitiveness, Hathersage based Hillspeed’s main aim at the start of this year was to challenge strongly for title honours in the Formula Renault BARC Championship.

Running a three-car entry for Menasheh Idafar, Ahmad Al Harthy and Michael Lyons, the squad started the season very well indeed with all three drivers finishing inside the top 10 during the opening race of the year.

Idafar, embarking on his first full season with Hillspeed having joined the team last winter, quickly stunned the category front-runners with his pace after taking a maiden pole position for round two at Brands Hatch. Over the course of the first four races, he secured a 100 per cent podium finishing record and put his name forward as a genuine title challenger.

Some bad luck mid-season, especially during the double-header event at Croft Circuit, irreparably damaged Idafar’s championship hopes but he returned to the podium at Silverstone during the final race and managed to conclude the year a highly creditable fourth overall in the driver standings.

Al Harthy remained with Hillspeed after a solid 2007 with the team and he, like Idafar, underlined his front-running credentials. Ending the Formula Renault BARC season in fifth position, just nine points behind his team-mate, the Omani racer enjoyed a very strong year and especially during the latter part of the campaign where he took three rostrums.

Taking his first podium of 2008 at Croft, he then achieved his maiden pole position start in Formula Renault BARC at Thruxton for round 10 where he was also on the rostrum. He then concluded the year with a further podium finish at Silverstone, coupled with the round 11 fastest lap.

“Menasheh and Ahmad were very strong and fast this year and, with the exception of some bad luck mid-season, they could both have ended the season inside the top three in the championship”, commented team principal Richard Ollerenshaw, “We were regularly one of the quickest teams out there, between them Menasheh and Ahmad took eight podiums.”

Teenager Lyons leads Hillspeed into Historic F1

Youngster Michael Lyons made his full-season debut in contemporary machinery with Hillspeed this year while also competing in a variety of historic classes, including the Historic Formula Ford Championship which he won.

Dovetailing a number of campaigns in 2008, the Essex driver made good progress in Formula Renault BARC and secured three top 10 finishes during the season. Graduating to Formula Renault UK for the four-round Winter Championship, the 17-year-old impressed with a fighting top 10 finish during the final race at Rockingham in Northamptonshire.

Through the team’s involvement with Lyons, Hillspeed became associated with the world of historic Formula One racing this year – the highlight being a visit to Monte Carlo where young Lyons, and his parents Frank and Judy, competed with assistance from Hillspeed.

“Taking our first steps into historic Formula One with Frank, Judy and Mick was something the whole team thoroughly enjoyed and we definitely feel this is an area of Hillspeed’s work which we’d very much like to expand”, said Ollerenshaw.

Joining Lyons for the UK Winter Championship was Idafar and he went on to end the series 12th overall with a best result of fifth place at Rockingham – the highest finish of any of the Formula Renault BARC graduates.

Hillspeed’s greatest success in the Winter Championship though came with car racing rookie James Theodore who scooped his first ever title in single-seaters after just six races! Making his competitive debut at Silverstone during the final rounds of the main BARC season, he went on to become Formula Renault BARC Winter Champion on his 17th birthday!

Theodore, who took three class victories in the winter from four races, was set to be joined in the BARC division by Anglo-Australian racer Immanuel Bryson-Haynes but the latter was unable to compete after a heavy accident during a test outing at Snetterton in Norfolk.

Exciting Formula Ford partnership unveiled

Back at the beginning of the year, Hillspeed and Juno Racing announced a tie-up centering on the latter’s creation of a brand new chassis for use in the 2009 UK Formula Ford Championship. Marking the start of an exciting new chapter in Hillspeed’s history, testing of the new Juno chassis has already started and the car is expected to race full time next year.

Lancashire based Juno, which is led by Ewan Baldry, enlisted the experience and first-class work ethic of Hillspeed to assist with the testing programme of the Formula Ford and the team is all set to run and prepare the car when it makes its competitive debut next year.

Commenting, Richard Ollerenshaw said: “To be involved with the development of a brand new racing car is something very special, we’re delighted to be working with Juno on its Formula Ford project. We’ve had a good 2008 which we’ve all thoroughly enjoyed and we’re looking forward to an even better 2009

Hathersage Formula Renault squad Hillspeed secured its second winter crown in as many seasons at Rockingham on Saturday, 8th November, following a thoroughly dominant performance from BARC Class racer James Theodore on his 17th birthday.

Having steered Richard Singleton to UK honours in 2007 Hillspeed took its second Winter Championship title in succession on Saturday, a brace of BARC Class wins for car racing rookie Theodore seeing him end the campaign with a 75 per cent record of victories having won three of the four rounds in total.

Taking a win and second place in class at Croft in North Yorkshire last weekend, Theodore raced well yet again at Rockingham in tricky conditions to claim his first car racing championship by a huge 36 point margin over the more experienced local driver, Kourosh Khani.

Hillspeed also had reason to celebrate for its UK Class drivers Menasheh Idafar and Michael Lyons, both enjoying superb outings during the first of the day’s races, round three, in particular to take respective best ever results at the wheel of a full 2008 specification Formula Renault UK car.

Racing impressively to a top five result during the opening encounter, having earlier qualified a very strong seventh on the grid, 17-year-old Idafar achieved the highest race result of any Formula Renault BARC graduate competing in the 2008 Winter Championship in his Gulf Computer Services, Ortolan and Gulfol backed car.

Lyons, (right) meanwhile, scythed his way through the order on a damp track from 16th on the grid with an inspirational performance. Running an outstanding eighth, the 2008 Historic Formula Ford Champion went for seventh place up the inside at Tarzan on lap 11 but had to think better of it on the exit as Harry Tincknell had better traction.

Hustling his rival along, the 17-year-old was in a position to try the same move on the following lap but an unfortunate spin saw him drop behind Josh Mulholland into 11th position. On lap 13 though, an unfazed Lyons went around the outside of Mulholland at Tarzan to regain 10th place.

“Winning back-to-back winter titles, last year in UK and this year in BARC, is a great result for Hillspeed, I’m absolutely delighted”, said team boss Richard Ollerenshaw, “James performed very well again, taking three class wins and a second place from four races is a fantastic return. In just six car races he’s had five class podiums.

“Menasheh and Mick have both come a long way this year, the first Rockingham race was very pleasing to see them both finish inside the top 10. Menasheh’s fifth place was the highest finish for a BARC graduate this year and it was only terrible luck which prevented him from attempting another top six in race two.”

He continued: “We were all very impressed with Mick’s performance in the first race, even when he was in eighth place he continued to push for more. He’s a racer and, credit where credit is due, his drive and attitude were very impressive. It was a shame his move at Tarzan didn’t come off but he can still hold his head very high.”

Theodore, who is backed by Liberty Properties Plc, had actually secured the BARC Class title following the first Rockingham encounter, 16th place overall – from 24th on the grid – a terrific result ahead of his nearest BARC rival who finished a lap down.

Round four was the least fortunate for both Idafar (pictured left) and Lyons but Theodore, again, enjoyed a good run to take the class win with 17th position overall from the 12th row of the grid once again.

While Idafar’s race was totally compromised by his avoidance of the lap four incident exiting Deene Hairpin, he did manage to recover four places into 16th position. Lyons was disappointingly forced to retire on the opening tour at Deene, preventing him from trying to match his excellent round three effort.

Away from its Formula Renault winter testing programme over the coming weeks and months, Hillspeed’s next major event will be the UK Formula Ford Championship ‘sampler day’ at Silverstone National Circuit on Tuesday, 2nd December, where the team is expecting to be on hand with the new Juno Racing Formula Ford chassis.

Rounds one and two of the 2008 Formula Renault UK Winter Championship proved to be a mixed bag for leading entrant Hillspeed – while UK Class drivers Menasheh Idafar and Michael Lyons had a difficult weekend, BARC runner James Theodore left the North Yorkshire venue with a 12 point lead in the class standings.

The Hathersage based squad, which took Richard Singleton to the winter series title last year, ran strongly during pre-event testing on Thursday and Friday but heavy rain prior to the start of qualifying on Saturday, 1st November, meant the session would be a very tricky one with two stoppages interfering with Idafar’s and Lyons’ quick laps.

Idafar was the best placed Hillspeed driver but was disappointed after taking the 15th fastest time of 1m 30.376 seconds (84.64mph). Lyons, meanwhile, was 21st quickest with Theodore unfortunately rounding out the 25 car field after being forced to retire midway through the session following a spin at Sunny Out.

At the start of round one, all three Hillspeed racers made good progress and by lap three 17-year-old Idafar was into 16th position with team-mate Lyons in 18th and Theodore inside the top 20.

As the race approached mid-distance, Lyons was having problems with the floor of his car dragging, the result of a minor excursion, but he fought through to an eventual finish of 15th in class. He also showed his true potential by posting the sixth fastest lap of 1m 25.084 seconds on the final tour.

With the track getting progressively drier, Idafar started to improve lap after lap up until the last quarter of the race when he started to experience grip-related difficulties with his tyres past their best.

Nonetheless, he made his way into the top 10 to finish a highly creditable ninth after a determined drive – the highlight of the race for him being at the hairpin on lap 11 when he passed two cars in one move.

With category newcomer Immanuel Bryson-Haynes unable to race this weekend due to an accident in testing last week, Hillspeed’s BARC challenge fell solely on the shoulders of Shropshire racer Theodore who took the class victory in round one and finished 15th overall after a storming drive from the back of the grid.

Speaking after round one, Hillspeed’s Richard Ollerenshaw said: “Menasheh’s drive through to ninth was a very good effort, his pace just started to fade towards the end because of the tyres. Mick did very well to set the sixth fastest lap, especially with the damage to his car after the small off, and it underlined the potential he’s got.

“For James, to come in and take the BARC Class win in only his third competitive run in the car was fantastic and very well deserved. He also took the fastest lap in BARC so, all in all, it was a superb run after a difficult time in qualifying.”

For round two on Saturday afternoon, Idafar lined up 17th on the grid, Lyons was 20th and Theodore brought up the rear once again. This time, British-born Bahraini Idafar saw his planned drive through the order shelved at the first corner when contact from another car forced him into retirement on the opening lap.

Heading into Clervaux on the outside, the Hillspeed racer was then collected by a car on his inside which ran wide and pushed him into the gravel trap.

Lyons came through to take his second top 15 finish of the weekend, having run as high as 13th position early on. With rain having fallen prior to the second race of the day, conditions were very tricky yet again and provided a major challenge.

Combining his two results from Croft, Lyons is actually the best placed of Hillspeed’s UK Class runners in 15th position – one spot and one point ahead of Idafar.

Theodore wasn’t able to match his sparkling round one performance in the second encounter but 17th overall and second in the BARC Class means he heads into the final two rounds of the four-race Winter Championship next Saturday at Rockingham in the lead of the BARC title chase, some 12 points to the good.

“We’re obviously delighted James is leading the BARC standings, he did a great job in very difficult circumstances this weekend”, added Ollerenshaw, “To bounce back strongly after his problem in qualifying was very encouraging.

“Menasheh and Mick both experienced some bad luck but we’re hopeful Rockingham will bring much improved results for both of them. There’s also a chance we’ll see Immanuel back out with us next weekend, nothing is guaranteed yet but he’s aiming to be there if possible.”

Derbyshire single-seater specialist Hillspeed enjoyed a successful conclusion to its 2008 Formula Renault BARC campaign at Silverstone National Circuit on Sunday, 5th October, with Menasheh Idafar and Ahmad Al Harthy both finishing on the podium.

While Omani racer Al Harthy secured a fine third place in wet conditions during the first race of the weekend, round 11, British-born Bahraini Idafar matched the result with his fifth podium of the year during the 12th and final round of the championship.

Formula Renault BARC debutant James Theodore, meanwhile, showed terrific progress during his first ever weekend in car racing and the 16-year-old ended the Silverstone event with a brace of highly creditable top 15 finishes.

In the headline FR2000 Class standings, Idafar ends the campaign in fourth position on 76 points, eight points clear of Al Harthy in fifth place. Michael Lyons, who missed the season finale due to historic racing commitments at Donington Park, concludes his first full year in contemporary single-seaters in 15th place.

Although there is no sanctioned entrants championship in Formula Renault BARC, Hillspeed is unofficially the second highest scoring team of 2008 when taking into account the best scores of each squad’s two highest placed cars in every race.

“It’s been a fantastic end to the season”, commented Hillspeed team principal Richard Ollerenshaw, “I’m a little bit disappointed we didn’t manage to get two drivers on the same podium at any point this year but we haven’t had the run of the luck when we needed it. Our bad luck mid-season at Oulton Park and Croft damaged us.

“I think it’s been a very positive championship for Hillspeed, Ahmad and Menasheh have both developed a lot as drivers and they have a lot of potential for the future. Mick wasn’t here with us this weekend but hopefully his step-up to Formula Renault UK in the winter series will go well.”

Ollerenshaw added: “James has done a fantastic job for us this weekend. To be faced with Silverstone as it was for the first race on Sunday, simply awful conditions, he did very well. To have two strong finishes on his debut puts him in a good position for the Winter Championship.”

Sunday’s proceedings were delayed by around two hours due to a heavily saturated circuit following overnight rain which continued throughout the morning. Round 11 started with Al Harthy on pole position, his second on the trot, Idafar in third place and Theodore in 19th position.

With a lot of spray being thrown up by the Formula Renaults, Al Harthy maintained his advantage at the front while a little further behind, team-mate Idafar had a spin at Copse when fighting to hold on to third place. Rejoining down in 15th position, the 17-year-old produced a good fight-back and ended the race in ninth position.

Al Harthy, meanwhile, had a moment of his own in the terrible conditions at the end of lap one heading out of Brooklands. Sliding slightly wide with two wheels touching the gravel, the 27-year-old managed to recover his car safely but the delay resulted in Isa Yousif and Ross Curnow both getting better drive out of Luffield into lap two.

Al Harthy remained in third place all the way to the chequered flag on lap 14 to record his third podium of the 2008 season. Theodore too had a problem on lap one, spinning at Becketts and recovering in 27th position. Gaining extra confidence with each lap, the youngster climbed through the order to an eventual finish of 15th position.

Round 12 took place on a much drier circuit with Idafar the highest placed Hillspeed starter in third position. Although he slipped to fourth through Becketts on lap one he regained a top three slot as race leader Yousif crashed out into the gravel at Brooklands.

Remaining in third until lap nine, Idafar then took second place following a spin for Curnow. Holding the place right up until the final lap, the Hillspeed racer unfortunately slipped to third at Luffield following a slight moment on entry to the corner.

Al Harthy, starting in fifth position, ran solidly during lap one but at Brooklands he had a spin when dicing with James Dixon. Down in 20th position, the Omani had a mountain to climb but a series of superbly quick laps brought him back into contention for points and he concluded the race in 10th position.

Theodore improved on his race one performance with a 14th place finish after a very good drive. Lining up 16th on the grid, the category rookie maintained his position until just before mid-distance when he moved into the top 15. On lap nine, he then passed Ellis Harkins at Brooklands to take 14th which he held to the chequered flag.

Ahmad Al Harthy achieved his second podium of the year and first ever Formula Renault BARC pole position start at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire yesterday, Sunday, 7th September – the Omani driver producing a superb performance for Derbyshire team Hillspeed.

Al Harthy, who celebrated his 27th birthday last weekend, was in terrific form in qualifying at the 2.35-mile track with a career best effort securing pole for the 10th round of the championship with a time of 1m 14.511 seconds (113.82mph).

In the race itself, Al Harthy battled well and was lucky to survive the distance at all after contact from Nathan Coulter to the rear of the No.4 Hillspeed car on lap four. Crushing the silencer on his exhaust, the net result was reduced straight-line speed which, at a power circuit like Thruxton, isn’t the sort of problem a driver needs.

Even so, Al Harthy did an outstanding job to maintain his composure and pace, bringing his Hathersage based squad its sixth Formula Renault BARC podium of the year. His best lap of the race meanwhile, 1m 14.621 seconds, was just two 10ths of a second shy of the best of all.

Speaking on Al Harthy’s performance, Hillspeed team principal Richard Ollerenshaw said: “Ahmad did a fantastic job, he had terrific pace from the off and to secure his first ever pole position in BARC Renault was a great result. He was probably slightly too conservative in the race early on which cost him the lead but third was still a great result.

“When he was hit by (Nathan) Coulter just a few laps in, the damage to the silencer on the exhaust made a huge difference to his straight-line speed but he managed to gap the cars behind and maintain a top three place which was excellent. He did slip to fourth later on but overtook Kenny Andrews at the end to make sure of third place.”

Qualifying became something of a lottery with the track drying towards the conclusion of the session but the main problem for Menasheh Idafar was the volume of traffic he found himself trapped amongst throughout the 20-minute session.

Compromising his performance, the British-born Bahraini was only able to manage an uncharacteristic eighth fastest time but even so, he was just half a second away from pole position. Team-mate Michael Lyons, meanwhile, was just another half second adrift with the 11th quickest lap.

In the race itself, Idafar made good early progress to climb into the top five but a spin when trying to make inroads on Al Harthy(pictured on the podium), the latter then in fourth position, dropped the 17-year-old back down the order, He did recover into seventh place though to claim four championship points which could be vital with just two rounds remaining this year.

Essex racer Lyons did run as high as ninth early in the race after a good opening stint and looked on course to achieve his first top 10 points finish since the Oulton Park race back in May. Unfortunately for the Felsted based driver, contact with some of Thruxton’s notoriously unforgiving kerbs resulted in damage to the underside of his car.

Taking that into account, Lyons did very well to bring his car home in 11th position just over a second shy of the points-paying places but a huge 11 seconds clear of his nearest challenger.

Ollerenshaw added: “Menasheh has gone away quite happy all things considered as he did enjoy the race. Unfortunately in qualifying he was caught among traffic and couldn’t get the lap he needed but he had front row pace for sure. It was a shame his spin lost the positions he’d gained but at least he maintains fourth in the championship.

“Mick dropped a place early on but quickly regained that and then moved into ninth which was good. Again, his pace was impressive and he should have had his fourth points result of the season. It was only the contact with the kerbs which compromised his chances. All in all, it wasn’t a bad race for the team as a whole but we deserved more.”

Front-running Formula Renault BARC team Hillspeed took a double-points finish at Snetterton on Saturday, 9th August, during the eighth and ninth rounds of the championship with Menasheh Idafar and Ahmad Al Harthy.

Hitting back strongly in the points battle after a luckless previous round, the Derbyshire squad looked set to see Britain’s Michael Lyons equal a season’s best effort in the second of Saturday’s races until the 17-year-old was forced out after contact from Kourash Khani at Sear Corner.

Although ending in disappointment for Lyons, Idafar and Al Harthy each enjoyed successful points scores to ensure they head into the final three rounds of the 2008 season fourth and fifth respectively in the headline FR2000 Class driver standings.

During the 20-minute qualifying session, British-born Bahraini Idafar was the best placed Hillspeed racer with fourth on the grid for both rounds eight and nine. Al Harthy would line-up eighth and ninth for the two encounters while Lyons posted the 13th fastest time for the race one grid and an improved 12th quickest for race two.

At the beginning of round eight, Idafar didn’t make the best getaway but still managed to hold onto fourth place where he would remain to the finish on lap 12. The race was scheduled for 14 laps duration but an incident involving Nathan Coulter and Brett Parris resulted in red flags being shown.

Al Harthy enjoyed a great start to the race to move up to sixth place by the time he exited the Esses and, again, that’s where he would remain to the finish in a race which saw little in the way of overtaking. Lyons, meanwhile, had a race-long battle with Lee Dwyer and eventually came home in 12th place – the results declared after 10 laps.

Round nine took place on a rain-lashed track with conditions incredibly tricky for the competitors but Hillspeed’s trio all ran strongly. Re-started after being red flagged on lap three, the second of the day’s races saw Al Harthy produce the stand-out performance having climbed from 11th on the re-start grid to sixth place at the chequered flag.

Idafar fought back well from a cautious opening few laps to finish just behind his 26-year-old Omani team-mate in seventh position, however, both drivers received a boost following post-race scrutineering when original third placed finisher Ross Curnow was excluded, promoting Al Harthy into fifth and Idafar into sixth.

Felsted-based Lyons showed great promise during the first five laps of the second encounter, but the opportunity of equalling his season’s best finish of seventh place at his home track ended with an enforced retirement on the sixth tour at Sear Corner when Kourash Khani made contact.

Looking back on the action, Hillspeed’s Richard Ollerenshaw said: “Menasheh scored some good points which was a must really, particularly after such a difficult time at Croft during the last event. Ahmad was very good, he looked strong in the wet and the dry and he’s now up to fifth in the championship, just behind Menasheh, which is great.

“We’re very disappointed for Mick, he really did look on course to score a strong top 10 in race two until he was punted off – I actually think he had the pace to equal his season’s best of seventh place too but it wasn’t to be unfortunately which is a great shame considering Snetterton is his home circuit.”

Ollerenshaw added: “From a full team perspective, I’m very pleased to have hit back strongly from the disappointment of Croft. I did have concerns about the second race being started in such bad conditions but thankfully all three of our drivers raced with their heads and drove very sensibly.”

Omani racer Ahmad Al Harthy produced an excellent performance in round six of the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship at Croft Circuit near Darlington yesterday afternoon, Sunday, 20th July, to achieve a career best second place finish at the wheel of his Hillspeed run car.

The 26-year-old, who started the race from sixth on the grid, made a great getaway to immediately move into the top five and although slipping back to sixth on lap two, he gained a position on lap six following the demise of Johannes Seidlitz with a puncture.

Driving well through a shuffling of the order at the end of lap seven and into the eighth tour, Al Harthy emerged out of it all in second position as several cars tripped over each other on the run out of the chicane.

Although light rain started as the race neared its end, the Hillspeed star comfortably held onto his second place to the finish – a career best Formula Renault BARC result and his first podium of the current campaign.

“I tried to keep it clean and then took advantage of a couple of other cars having problems to gain places too”, said Al Harthy, “It was hard to keep the pace while coming through but second is a great result. It’s good to be back on the podium for the first time since the winter series last year. Hopefully we can keep on coming back to the podium!”

Team-mate Menasheh Idafar(pictured right - pic P Williams), who lined up third on the grid, did finish the race in third place – a superb effort considering he had to drive two thirds of the outing with a broken front wing – but the result was later taken away from the British-born Bahraini due to contact at the hairpin on lap five, the incident which led to the damage on his car.

For Michael Lyons, a points finish eluded him in the end although he did battle hard to a top 12 result, having started 13th on the grid. Moving into the top 10 on lap five, the Essex 17-year-old was up to ninth on lap eight but a moment late in the race dropped him to 13th. However, with the removal of Idafar from the results, this became 12th place.

Round seven proved to be an absolute nightmare for Richard Ollerenshaw’s Hillspeed squad with a potential race victory going begging at the first corner. Not only that, all three of the Derbyshire team’s cars were forced out of the race in the gravel trap on the outside of the first turn, an incomprehensible outcome.

Idafar led away from pole position – his fourth of the season – on the run to Clervaux but contact to the rear of his car saw him forced into the gravel and immediately out of the race. Al Harthy was caught up in the aftermath and became another unfortunate victim, team-mate Lyons and Lee Dwyer also making contact.

“We’re obviously delighted regarding Ahmad’s podium in the first race, he really deserved it as he raced well”, said Richard Ollerenshaw, “We also feel it was fair for Menasheh to be removed from the results. That doesn’t take away from how well he coped with the damaged front wing but we expected the penalty.

“The worst thing about that is he has to count the non-score in his end of season total so it will have a big impact on his final championship position. The car was there this weekend, everything was in order for two wins and it was a great opportunity to eat into Ollie Hancock’s championship lead. It just wasn’t to be which is very frustrating.”

Ollerenshaw added: “The second race was a total disaster, I don’t know what to say. To have all three cars taken out at the first corner was unbelievable. All we can do now is dust ourselves down and come back stronger at Snetterton next month, which we will.”

ROUND FIVE DRAMA DENTS HILLSPEED’S OULTON PODIUM HOPES

Michael Lyons finished in eighth position

Hillspeed can rightly reflect on the fifth round of the 2008 Formula Renault BARC season as its most luckless outing of the campaign after the loss of a near-certain podium for Menasheh Idafar and a disappointing non-finish for fellow front-runner Ahmad Al Harthy at Oulton Park Island Circuit on Spring Bank Holiday Monday, 26th May.

Having seen Idafar scorch to a dominant pole position in qualifying on Monday morning with a time of 1m 22.175 seconds (97.51mph) – an incredible half a second quicker than his closest challenger – the Derbyshire team headed into the 12-lap race confident the British-born Bahraini would be able to fight for the podium at least and, potentially, a win.

Round five, however, turned into chaos with three enforced stoppages – the second of the re-starts seeing Idafar forced out of contention for a top finish due to contact from rival Ash Davies on the approach to Old Hall Corner.

Having led the race off the grid at the original start, and running in a very close second place following the re-start, he wasn’t quite able to replicate as good a getaway at the third time of asking and slipped into the battle over fourth place.

Heading into the first corner as the filling in a Nathan Coulter and Ash Davies sandwich, Idafar found himself clipped by the latter, breaking the front wing of the Hillspeed car and seeing Davies spear into Coulter to eliminate both from the race.

Thankfully Idafar managed to continue and after recovering onto the circuit following a bumpy run over the grass on the exit of Old Hall due to the lack of downforce at the front of his car, he fought very well indeed to come home in an eventual seventh place.

British team-mate Michael Lyons took the chequered flag in eighth position behind Idafar, the Essex 17-year-old coming close to matching his career best Formula Renault BARC result of seventh.

Qualifying 15th on the grid, Lyons remained out of trouble as chaos ensued around him and the category rookie maintained terrific composure throughout all three starts to be in a position to claim his third points scoring result from five races.

Although Al Harthy hoped to qualify further up the order than eighth position, his fastest time of 1m 22.842 seconds (96.73mph) was only a fraction over a 10th of a second shy of the front row.

His start to round five was absolutely impeccable, climbing into the top four by the time the cars headed through Old Hall for the first time. Disastrously for Al Harthy though, an accident on the grid resulted in red flags being shown immediately and so the promise of a podium challenge evaporated.

Before he had an opportunity to repeat his great getaway and mount another battle over a podium finish, the Omani racer then suffered a rare failure on his front-right suspension as he rounded the track on the green flag formation lap.

Hugely disappointing for Al Harthy, he was unable to take part in the race at all after the upright pin sheared, causing the front suspension to collapse.

Looking back on an event which initially promised so much for the Hathersage based squad, team principal Richard Ollerenshaw said: “There’s no question we had the pace, and the drivers, to potentially achieve a double-podium finish – it’s disappointing the way things turned out for Menasheh and Ahmad.

“We have to look at the positives though and Michael did a great job to finish in the top eight and score points for the third time this season. He raced well and we’re pleased yet again with his progress.

“I’ve no doubt Menasheh could have taken his first win, the pace he showed in qualifying was incredible but there was nothing he could do when Davies turned in on him. We are all really disappointed for Ahmad, his first start was fantastic but then to have the suspension problem was a bitter pill to swallow. We believe he may have been tagged during the confusion of the first start or somewhere out on track.”

Hillspeed travelled directly from Oulton Park on Monday evening to Croft Circuit in North Yorkshire where all three of the team’s drivers tested their Formula Renault BARC cars yesterday, Tuesday, 27th May, in preparation for the next two rounds of the season.

Team Hillspeed and 17-year-old racer Michael Lyons made history in Monaco at the weekend, 10th/11th May, after competing in the prestigious Grand Prix Historique – the sixth running of the event which first took place in 1997.

Marking Felsted resident Lyons out as the youngest ever driver to pilot a Formula One car at the world-famous Monaco street-circuit in Monte Carlo, the teenager took part in the Automobile Club de Monaco organised race at the wheel of the glorious 1977 Hesketh 308E which he took to podium success at Donington Park in late March.

Racing at Monaco in the 15-lap class ‘G’ encounter, comprising 3-litre F1 cars constructed during the period 1975 to 1978, the Hillspeed supported driver lined up 17th on the grid after posting a best time of 1m 43.360 seconds during qualifying.

Making a tremendous start, gaining four positions off the line, Lyons climbed into 11th place with less than a third of the race completed. His outstanding progress was unfortunately halted though when a gearbox failure saw the talented British youngster forced to retire at the Swimming Pool complex on the fifth lap.

Commenting on the weekend’s action, Hillspeed team principal Richard Ollerenshaw said: “Mick did an exceptional job and it was just a shame he was forced out of the race after such an outstanding start. I’m confident he would have finished inside the top 10 on his Monaco debut without the breakage which is a credit to his superb ability to switch between modern and historic racing.

“Sunday’s race was only the fourth time he’d driven a Formula One car and he’s certainly by far the youngest ever driver to race an F1 car at Monaco. There were only a couple of 20 minute sessions before the race so Mick only had a total of about 14 laps in which to learn the track! He did a top job.”

Ollerenshaw added: “The retirement occurred due to a breakage of the input shaft and we think this probably happened because of the stress the standing start placed on the car – the historic events usually begin with rolling starts. It’s unfortunate and we’re really disappointed for him but he can still take away a lot of positives from the weekend.”

Held a fortnight ahead of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship round at Monaco, which will take place on 24th/25th May, the Grand Prix Historique was Lyons’ debut outing in the principality and also only his fourth ever race in the Hesketh.

The Essex racer will return to the cockpit of his contemporary Formula Renault BARC single-seater with the Hillspeed team just under a fortnight from now on Spring Bank Holiday Monday, 26th May, for the fifth round of the 2008 season at Oulton Park.

Before then, the team will test at the Cheshire venue this Friday, 16th May, with Lyons’ Formula Renault BARC team-mates Ahmad Al Harthy and Menasheh Idafar in action.

Hathersage based single-seater specialist Hillspeed made an outstanding start to its 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship campaign at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent over the weekend, the reigning Formula Renault UK Winter Champions leading the FR2000 Class of the BARC series with 17-year-old Menasheh Idafar.

Achieving a career first pole position during qualifying on Sunday, 23rd March, the emerging British-born Bahraini racer went on to achieve a brace of podium results yesterday, Easter Monday, 24th March, and is now three points clear of nearest rival Ash Davies, a near dream start to the championship for the Hillspeed star.

Team-mate Ahmad Al Harthy secured two very strong points finishes himself with sixth place in round one and fourth position in round two. The Omani 26-year-old's excellent weekend sees him leave Brands Hatch fifth in the championship, eight points behind series leader Idafar.

For Essex-based 17-year-old Michael Lyons, the first of the two Brands Hatch encounters resulted in a terrific debut points finish with 10th position, having started 16th on the grid, while in race two he came home in 14th place. Tied on points with Brett Parris, Lyons is joint 13th overall in the FR2000 Class standings.

With all three Hillspeed drivers having scored points in the most difficult conditions, snow falling throughout round one, the team is rightfully delighted with its weekend’s work and especially so considering prior to the Brands Hatch races it was unknown if Al Harthy and Idafar would actually be permitted to take part due to a clerical error with entries.

Speaking on Hillspeed’s outstanding start to 2008, team principal Richard Ollerenshaw said: “What a fantastic start to the championship! We came to Brands Hatch and didn’t know whether we’d get to race or not but then we end up with all three drivers scoring points and Menasheh leading the standings.

“I’m absolutely delighted with our performance this weekend, the drivers have had everything thrown at them in terms of the conditions, stoppages and re-starts but they handled it brilliantly. The full spectrum of things you probably wouldn’t even expect to happen over the course of a season have happened in one weekend.

“We’re really looking forward to Rockingham now next month where we aim to build on these results and continue strongly. There are a lot of good drivers and teams in the championship so we’re by no means underestimating the challenge. But starting the year like this has given everyone at Hillspeed a lot of confidence.”

Both races were affected by two stoppages, round one first seeing red flags at the end of lap two following an on-track incident. At that point Idafar was fourth, having started in seventh place, Al Harthy was up to a superb eighth from 15th on the grid and Lyons had been equally electrifying in ninth position, having started in 16th spot.

At the re-start, with the snow getting heavier and more persistent, Idafar got off the line well and moved into the top three while Al Harthy climbed into the top six but Lyons slipped unfortunately to 11th position.

As the race entered lap six, red flags were shown once again and this time the race result was able to be declared due to the sufficient distance covered. Idafar recorded his third career Formula Renault BARC podium, and first in the full championship, and Lyons had made his way into the top 10 for a deserved points finish.

Al Harthy had actually got ahead of fifth-placed Aaron Steele on lap five but with the result having to be counted back to the end of the fourth tour, the Omani racer had to settle for fifth.

Race two was a similar story to the first with a brace of stoppages although conditions had thankfully improved enough for it to be a dry race. Starting from his maiden pole position, Idafar’s getaway was compromised when Ash Davies made a jump-start from fifth on the grid to lead.

Slotting into third place with team-mate Al Harthy in fourth, further behind Lyons was in 12th position. The first red flag was shown on lap four due to a car off the track at Paddock Hill Bend. Following the re-start, Idafar and Al Harthy were third and fourth again while Lyons was making progress and moved into the top 10.

Unfortunately, contact from a rival at Druids Hairpin on lap three forced the Felsted based youngster wide and ended up putting him off-line for the entry to Graham Hill Bend, the result seeing several cars nip through and push him down to 14th place.

On lap seven, the race was stopped again and the result confirmed as Idafar in third again for his second podium of the day, Al Harthy in fourth and Lyons in 14th position.

While taking the opportunity to test its drivers over the coming weeks, Hillspeed will next be in competitive action at Rockingham International Super Sports Car Circuit in Northamptonshire on 19th/20th April for rounds three and four of the 2008 season.

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