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Russell Racing's  Formula Renault BARC Championship

Menasheh Idafar's season ends with a bang...literally

Menasheh Idafar was lucky to escape unscathed from a huge accident during the final round of the 2007 Formula Renault BARC Championship at Oulton Park Island Circuit this afternoon, the Russell Racing youngster seeing genuine hopes of a maiden points finish ruined after contact from another competitor on the opening lap of the race.

The 16-year-old, who is the youngest driver in this year’s Formula Renault BARC series, had produced a superb performance during this morning’s 20-minute qualifying session in which he achieved a career best 11th position on the grid with a lap of 1m 23.996 seconds (95.40mph), placing him within just 1.5 seconds of pole-sitter Hywel Lloyd.

At the start of the race, the British-born Bahraini racer – in his debut year of competition outside the Middle East – made a clean getaway and comfortably moved into the top 10 as the cars passed through Old Hall Corner for the first time.

With the promise of a maiden points-scoring result very realistic, Menasheh then saw his world turned upside down, quite literally, as contact from fellow FR2000 Class runner Ash Davies forced the Russell Racing star onto the grass, pitching his car into a series of barrel rolls. Coming to rest upside down, Menasheh very thankfully escaped any injury.

Team-mate Mark Gillibrand, the most successful of the Russell Racing drivers in this year’s championship, endured a nightmare weekend himself which started with an accident during general testing at the Cheshire venue on Friday and was followed by a problem with his steering during round 12 qualifying this morning.

Forced to use the first part of the session to bed-in his car following the repairs carried out overnight, Mark wasn’t able to get into his stride properly to begin with and then on his ninth lap the Manchester racer went straight-on at Lodge Corner when a steering issue prevented him from making the turn.

Ending his qualifying run prematurely early in the gravel trap, the 24-year-old had managed to post a lap of 1m 26.358 seconds (92.79mph) which was good enough for 18th on the grid. However, a further problem identified with the engine mounting on his car, thought to be a result of the accident, meant Russell Racing had no choice but to prevent Mark’s car from taking the race start on the grounds of safety.

Looking back on a promising weekend which turned shockingly sour, Russell Racing team owner Tim Russell said: “We had hoped for a strong end to the season and after seeing how well Menasheh did in qualifying we were all very excited at his prospects for the race and a first ever points finish, he had excellent pace this weekend.

“Sadly it wasn’t to be but we’re all very thankful he escaped injury, that’s far more important than any result. We’re all disappointed for Mark as he had a series of issues this weekend and, again, could have been strong. We’re confident we made the right call in preventing Mark’s car from lining up on the grid though. Safety is always paramount.”

RR withdraws third car on sporting grounds

Matt Shawyer’s expected return to action with Russell Racing today(Sunday) didn’t materialise after a joint decision was made by driver and team to withdraw his car from the final round of the Formula Renault BARC Championship on the grounds the Hertfordshire-based BRDC Rising Star’s appearance could have been a factor in the outcome of the 2007 title.

With just six points separating championship contenders Dean Stoneman and Hywel Lloyd at the head of the FR2000 Class standings heading into today’s race, had a competitor of Shawyer’s speed and experience taken part it could have been pivotal in the destiny of the championship crown.

To that end, following an in-depth discussion, an 11th hour decision was taken to withdraw the third of the Russell Racing cars ahead of this morning’s qualifying session.

Commenting on the move, team owner Tim Russell highlights the importance of enabling season-long rivals Stoneman and Lloyd to battle for the title without the potential interference of a ‘wildcard’ driver taking vital points off either competitor.

“Having discussed the situation at great length, both Matt and ourselves felt it was the right decision to withdraw his car before qualifying as we didn’t want to potentially interfere in any way with the destiny of the 2007 championship”, said Russell.

“It’s disappointing for all of us Matt didn’t compete today as we all know he’s a quality driver. Taking that into account though, Matt could have been a factor in the title outcome which wouldn’t have been fair. This way, we’re satisfied any such concerns surrounding Matt’s participation today were dealt with correctly and efficiently.”

There are now just five weeks to wait until the beginning of the 2007 Formula Renault UK Winter Championship in which Russell Racing aims to field at least one car in Formula Renault BARC specification. The team will announce its first driver signing in due course.

Hywel Lloyd, incidentally, won today’s race and is therefore 2007 Formula Renault BARC Champion.

THRUXTON FIGHTBACK NETS GILLIBRAND TOP 15 

Russell Racing's Mark Gillibrand saw one of his customary lightning starts fail to bear fruit at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire this afternoon during the 11th round of the Formula Renault BARC Championship, contact from a rival FR2000 Class competitor ruining his chances of a push towards the top 10. 

The Manchester 24-year-old, who is the Warwickshire team's most successful driver this season with four points finishes to his credit, started the 12-lap race from 19th on the grid after a difficult qualifying run earlier in the day. 

With race conditions far cooler and much more blustery than the warm sunshine which graced the 2.35-mile track during the morning, Mark made a typically storming getaway and, taking Kieren Clark out of the equation whose car stopped on the green flag lap, the Russell Racing driver had superbly climbed into the top 16 on lap one. 

Adding in the demise of Ross Worswick with car troubles at Woodham Hill, Mark moved into the top 15 by the time he reached the Club Chicane for the first time. After passing Pierre Renom for 14th place during the next tour, all looked good for Mark to continue his impressive rise through the order but it would all change on lap three. 

Running side-by-side with the Frenchman through the notoriously fast Church Corner, Mark taking the outside line, contact from the Frenchman forced the Russell Racing charger into a spin which dropped him down to 18th position. 

Over the remaining nine laps, Mark faced an uphill task to make up ground having lost touch with the middle order but he did manage to climb back into the top 15, missing out on gaining another place on the final lap by just over a second. 

For team-mate Menasheh Idafar, today's visit to Thruxton was his first ever to the fast and incredibly challenging Hampshire venue and after qualifying on the 11th row of the grid, the British-born Bahraini 16-year-old hoped for a strong start to the race. 

Unfortunately for Menasheh, he wasn't able to make the getaway he wanted and slipped behind several slower Club Class cars on the run to the complex for the first time. By lap six, Menasheh had managed to climb into the top 20 and after taking 19th position on the next tour, he moved into 18th place on lap 10. 

With just two laps remaining, the young Bahraini racer did move up another place before the chequered flag and was less than a second shy of the top 16 as he crossed the line on the 12th and final lap. 

Reflecting on the day's action, Russell Racing owner Tim Russell said: "Qualifying didn't produce the results we'd have hoped for but we were confident Mark would be able to charge through the order. Unfortunately the contact on lap three cost him a lot of time so to climb back into the top 15 was as much as any of us could have expected. 

"It was always likely to be a tough and challenging weekend for Menasheh, he's never been to the circuit before, so to bring the car home safely at such a notoriously tricky place as Thruxton was pleasing to see. Hopefully we can end the season on a high note at Oulton Park a fortnight from now."
The final round of the Formula Renault BARC Championship will take place at Oulton Park Island Circuit on Saturday, 29th September, the event marking the category's second visit of the season to the picturesque Cheshire venue.

BRANDS HATCH INDY TOP 12 FOR GILLIBRAND  

Under glorious Bank Holiday Monday sunshine, 24-year-old Mark Gillibrand came home as the highest placed Russell Racing driver in 12th position, just seven 10ths of a second ahead of 16-year-old Menasheh Idafar. Essa Mohammed, meanwhile, finished 15th in the FR2000 Class but fellow Bahraini Mohamed Al A’li was unfortunately forced to retire. 

Qualifying at the Kent venue saw Mark emerge as the quickest of the team-mates with the 15th fastest time, a lap of 47.418 seconds (90.99mph) the Manchester racer’s best, with Menasheh 16th less than two 10ths of a second adrift. Mohamed qualified just over a 10th of a second slower in 17th place with Essa just behind in 18th position. 

At the start of round 10, all four Russell Racing drivers made good getaways and at the exit of Graham Hill Bend on the opening lap, Mohamed benefited from good drive to pass Essa as the pair entered Surtees for the first time. On lap four, however, Mohamed had an unlucky spin at Druids Hairpin resulting in a race stoppage. 

Following a clean re-start, it was then a case of deja-vu with another enforced stoppage brought about on lap four due to a car stranded in the middle of the track at Druids. At the third time of asking the race finally ran its course, albeit over a shortened distance of just eight laps. 

With the starting order taken from the end of lap two, Mark lined up in 16th position with Menasheh 17th and Essa down in 24th. Off the grid it was all action with Ahmad Al Harthy banging wheels with Mark as the Russell Racing driver moved ahead into 15th place. 

On lap two, Menasheh also started to mount a challenge on Al Harthy as they headed into Paddock Hill Bend while a little further behind Essa was making good progress and by lap three had climbed into the top 18. The fourth tour then saw Menasheh complete a successful pass on Al Harthy on the run from Druids down to Graham Hill Bend. 

Into the penultimate lap, Mark held 14th position with Menasheh just behind and Essa in 17th place but on lap eight a collision involving podium-contenders David McDonald and Ross Worswick resulted in the former taking the latter into the gravel at Clearways. Mark therefore finished 12th, Menasheh 13th and Essa in 16th spot, 15th in class. 

Speaking at the conclusion of the race, team boss Tim Russell said: “Mohamed’s spin at Druids was very unfortunate but Mark, Menasheh and Essa all did well to finish strongly. As is always the case at Brands Indy, overtaking is so difficult in these cars but all four of our drivers managed to make up places at various points which was good to see.” 

Russell Racing will return to competitive action three weeks from now on Sunday, 16th September, for the 11th and penultimate round of the Formula Renault BARC season at the ultra-fast Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire.

Idafar enjoys strong run at Brands Hatch Indy

Round nine of the 2007 Formula Renault BARC Championship at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit this afternoon saw the Russell Racing team forced to battle the odds once again, although Menasheh Idafar continued his excellent progress with a creditable 13th place finish in the headline FR2000 Class.

The British-born Bahraini racer, the youngest competitor in the series, qualified as the best of the Russell Racing drivers during this morning’s 20-minute session at the Kent venue, a best lap of 47.263 seconds (91.297mph) placing him 17th on the grid, just over a second shy of the pole position time.

Mark Gillibrand, the Warwickshire team’s most successful driver of the season so far, was forced to bed-in a new engine after a failure to his original Renault powerplant during testing on Saturday so the Manchester-based star was prevented from getting the full performance he wanted during the session and had to settle for the 19th best time.

Mohamed Al A’li was just six 100ths of a second slower than Mark in 20th position while the returning Essa Mohammed, who was forced to miss the recent Snetterton race weekend due to an injury sustained in a karting accident, would line up in 22nd place.

At the start of round nine Mark produced one of his customary electric getaways to climb into the top 16 by the time he entered Paddock Hill Bend, moving ahead of Menasheh with Mohamed close behind in 18th place and Essa in 19th as all four Russell Racing cars ran line astern on the opening lap.

By lap three, Mark had edged into the top 15 and looked to be making strong progress but the race was stopped on lap four due to a car stranded in a dangerous position at Druids Hairpin.

Undoing all of his hard work, the 24-year-old was bitterly disappointed to see the red flags but worse luck was to follow at the re-start when he was forced to pit before the end of the opening lap with a broken gear cable, sending him into a very unfortunate retirement.

With Menasheh running as the lead Russell Racing driver in 14th place as the re-started race entered lap two, he looked to have the measure of his fellow Bahrainis and went on to finish in 14th position on the road, 13th in class, eight seconds clear of Mohamed. Essa made a good return to action, meanwhile, three seconds further back in 16th place.

“It’s been a trying start to the weekend for us”, said Russell Racing team owner Tim Russell, “First we had a problem with the ECU on Menasheh’s car in testing and then Mark’s engine failed so the team worked incredibly hard overnight to fix everything in readiness for qualifying.

“They all did a great job and it’s just such a shame we had the issue with the broken gear cable on Mark’s car today. He looked very strong in the first part of the race and deserved much more. Menasheh did an excellent job to finish 13th in class and with Mohamed and Essa just behind it was nice to see all three cars take the flag.

Russell added: “On behalf of the team, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Tony Worswick for allowing us to use one of his spare ECUs for Menasheh’s car. There is a good atmosphere in the paddock among the teams and drivers and that’s one of the highlights of racing in Formula Renault BARC.”

Round 10 of the Formula Renault BARC season will take place at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit tomorrow, Bank Holiday Monday, 27th August, at 16.05 and is scheduled to be contested over 18 laps. The 20-minute qualifying session, meanwhile, is expected to begin at 10.50.

FOURTH POINTS FINISH OF SEASON FOR GILLIBRAND 

Russell Racing’s Mark Gillibrand produced his fourth points-scoring result of the 2007 Formula Renault BARC Championship season at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk at the weekend, the 24-year-old driving superbly to climb from 17th on the grid to finish in the coveted top 10 of the headline FR2000 Class. 

Offering a boost for the Warwickshire team at the end of perhaps its most difficult weekend of the campaign, Gillibrand's result in round eight sees him conclude the fifth race meeting of the year joint 16th in the driver standings. 

During this morning's 20-minute qualifying session, Bahraini teenager Mohamed Al A'li emerged, as he had on Saturday during round seven, as Russell Racing's quickest driver having posted the 10th fastest time with a lap of 1m 09.301 seconds (101.39mph). 

Agonisingly for both team and driver, Al A'li was then excluded from the results of the qualifying session due to a technical irregularity and so would start round eight from the back of the grid alongside Ahmad Al Harthy whose own outfit experienced similar frustration as he too had his times erased due to technical infringements. 

The start of the race would therefore see Gillibrand as Russell Racing's best-placed driver in 17th position with British-born Bahraini team-mate Menasheh Idafar, the youngest racer in the series at 16-years and five months, expected to line up in 19th place on the grid. 

However, having already had his qualifying run compromised due to an unexpected engine failure and subsequent fire midway through the session, Idafar was unable to take the race start after an incredibly valiant effort from the Russell Racing mechanics to switch the powerplant from another of the team's cars fell victim to the clock. 

Bitterly disappointed, especially for Idafar himself, the team hoped to cheer-on Gillibrand and Al A'li to decent results and both drivers duly delivered, the former producing one of his customary impressive getaways to climb into the top 13 on the opening lap. But at the end of the second tour, red flags were shown following an on-track incident. 

Lining up for the re-start in 13th position, Gillibrand quickly made gains to move into the top 12 while behind, Al A'li was making terrific progress and by the end of lap one he had made his way into 19th position. 

With front-runner Ollie Hancock spinning out of contention at the Esses on lap two, the Russell Racing duo each gained a further place although Gillibrand was pushed back into 12th position on the third lap by recovering series leader Hywel Lloyd. However, the Mancunian seized 11th place on lap five when Louis Hamilton-Smith spun at the chicane. 

Gillibrand then made his way into the top 10 following a problem for Ash Davies while further back Al A'li continued his impressive drive up the order by moving into the top 15 by lap eight, a position he would hold to the chequered flag. 

Russell Racing will return to action just a fortnight from now on Sunday, 26th August, and Bank Holiday Monday, 27th August, for the ninth and 10th rounds of the Formula Renault BARC season at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent.