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STRONG FORM FOR HITECH JUNIOR IN HUNGARY

Hitech Junior continued it’s good first season in Formula Renault with another strong performance in the third round of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship in Hungary. Fielding four cars for Miki Monras, Richard Singleton, Luciano Bacheta and Juan Jacobo the team was regularly posting fastest laps and sector times at the Hungaroring circuit near Budapest.

Singleton spent much of the opening free practice session on Thursday swapping fastest lap times with championship leader Daniel Ricciardo and Andrea Caldarelli.  In the afternoon, in which the top 26 cars were covered by a second, the Formula Renault Winterseries champion wound up ninth quickest upholding honours for the Silverstone-based team. 

On Friday the 41 runners were split into two groups with Singleton and Monras both second quickest in their respective tests on the damp track.  In the collective test, Monras was tenth as the quartet prepared for the crucial qualifying session which would determine places for the super pole shootout. 

Monras again proved quickest of the four giving him automatic entry into the shoot out with Bacheta 14th, Singleton 16th and Jacobo 19th in their sessions putting them into the qualification race. In that Singleton finished top Hitech runner in sixth just ahead of Bacheta in seventh with Jacobo 13th but with a superb second fastest race lap to his credit. 

Race Drivers Academy driver Bacheta and Colombian ace Jacobo suffered mixed fortunes over the weekend but both impressed in their debut seasons in the single-seater championship. Jacobo reaffirmed his rapid race pace with the second quickest lap in qualification race, while Bacheta drove a storming opening race from dead last to 14th before being taken out two corners from home. 

In the opening championship race, Monras who took the team’s first podium finish last time out narrowly missed a points-scoring finish after losing his front wing at the first corner. Despite that he still managed to race and get past several drivers and had the car been intact, would have been able to improve on his eventual 12th place finish.  Jacobo went on to finish 28th, Bacheta 31st and Singleton 32nd while the second race, interrupted by a safety car period, proved eventful for the quartet and resulted in Monras finishing 22nd, Jacobo 28th and Singleton 29th as Bacheta failed to finish. 

Despite the results, team owner David Hayle was quick to praise the youngsters who have all steadily improved over the course of the opening three races.  “Unfortunately the results here this weekend really don’t do justice to the performance of all four of them.  Their testing and race pace is outstanding and we must remember they are all rookies competing in a highly-competitive series with some of the quickest Formula Renault drivers around. 

“The Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship is one of the hardest championships in Europe and the fact that one second covered 26 cars proves that. So we remain happy with the performance this weekend although not necessarily the overall results but we can take something from it into the next rounds.

“It is a new challenge for all of us, a new team into the championship with young rookie drivers where we have proved we have the outright pace.  Now we must convert that into qualifying pace to enable us to get the best possible chance of success.”

FIRST EVER PODIUM FOR HITECH JUNIOR

Hitech Junior scored its ever first podium finish when Spaniard Miki Monras finished third in the latest round of the Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup at Valencia. Richard Singleton continued his impressive performance with two top ten places to finish top Briton. While Australian Ashley Walsh was unable to repeat his earlier form however finished 21st and 23rd from 35 starters.

Sixteen year-old Monras, in his first full in motor racing, showed his intentions right from the start of qualifying. Running fourth quickest the talented teenager was brake-tested by a rival, sending him into the back of the car ahead and launched him into the air. The incident put paid to his chances of maintaining the superb form and although he was classified 15th quickest, the timely delay to repair his car forced him to start the race from the pit lane.  From there a stunning drive through the field from dead last saw him finish 19th at the flag.

Singleton, the Formula Renault UK Winterseries Champion, had upheld team honours with tenth quickest in first qualifying with Australian Motor Sport Foundation International Rising Star Walsh in a lowly 27th.  In Saturday’s opening race, Singleton maintained position to finish as top Hitech runner with Monras back in 19th and Walsh 21st.

Sunday’s qualifying session had Monras quickest of the trio, posting the eighth quickest time ahead of Singleton in 16th and Walsh 22nd. A superb race by the Barcelona teenager enabled him to steadily progress through the field, overtaking five cars over the course of the race to cross the line third.

Singleton once again showed promise throughout the race and superb pace as he too had a storming drive up to ninth.  Twenty year-old Walsh struggled to repeat the form that netted him runner-up in the Formula Ford Championship last season as he crossed the line 23rd.

“It’s great to get our first trophy so early on in our first season in Formula Renault,” said Team owner David Hayle.  “All three drove really well again this weekend and I’m sure it won’t be long before podiums are a regular feature.  Richard certainly had the pace in the second race and was able to make up a lot of places. However Ashley struggled a bit, mainly I think due to lack of track time, although he improved over the course of the weekend.”

Hitech Junior will be back on track over the weekend of Saturday 5 July and Sunday 6 July in the next rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship at the Hungaroring

HITECH SHOWS GOOD FORM AT SPA 

Hitech Junior narrowly missed out on a points-scoring result in the opening round of the 2008 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday. The Silverstone-based team, in its debut season in the hotly contested series, is fielding four cars for Miki Monras, Richard Singleton, Juan Jacobo and Luciano Bacheta. 

The series has attracted a massive 48 entries for 2008.  The series organisers took the decision to split the entry into two qualifying sessions of 24 cars determined by odd and even race numbers. From that the fastest 12 from each group would go into a Super Pole session, with a drivers’ first and second quickest lap times determining the first 24 cars on the grid for the two races. The 24 remaining cars would line up 25 to 48 on the grid for each race. 

In his qualifying session, Spaniard Miki Monras drove superbly to post the ninth quickest time, putting him comfortably into the Super Pole shootout.  He was joined by Briton Singleton who was an impressive tenth quickest in his session, following a superb testing performance earlier in the week.   

Colombian Jacobo posted the 12^th quickest time in his session putting him in super pole, however his time was taken away by the stewards for a driving infringement, Juan was demoted to 13^th in session which would automatically see him line up 26^th for the first race.  Briton Bacheta, part of the Race Drivers Academy Government Funded Driver Development Programme, was 14^th in his session and for the opening round lined up 28^th. 

The Super Pole shoot took place with 24 cars vying for the all-important pole-spot. Monras led the way for the team posting the 21^st and 19^th quickest time. Singleton’s session was interrupted when he clipped a barrier on his first flying lap breaking his rear wing, which forced him into the pits for a replacement giving him time for just one lap. 

Race one, held over 12 laps, proved largely uneventful and it was Bacheta who upheld team honours with a storming drive through the field from 28^th to 15^th at the flag.  For Monras, a steady drive allowed him to progress, finishing 19^th.  

Jacobo struggled in the opening race to finish 30^th while Singleton made a storming start making up ten places to be 14^th at the end of the first lap. Unfortunately contact with another car, resulted in a pit stop which pushed him back down the order and he was classified 41^st at the flag. 

In the second race held on Sunday, Monras made a great start and over the course of the 11 laps drove superbly, latching onto the tail of a seven-car battle for sixth. Just one tenth covered them and at the flag, Miki took 11^th place, just outside the points.   

Jacobo drove a similarly impressive first lap, making up 14 places before being hit by another car, bringing his charge to a premature end. Singleton recovered from his first race disappointment to take 14^th. Bacheta meanwhile crossed the line in 18^th place. 

Hitech Junior will next take to the track in the second round of the 2008 WEC Formula Renault 2.0 Championship which takes place in Dijon, France over the weekend of 9-11 May. 

HITECH JUNIOR KICK-STARTS 2008

Hitech Junior kicked of its 2008 season this weekend with Spaniard Miki Monras, Briton Luciano Bacheta and Australian Ashley Walsh competing in the opening rounds of the WEC Formula Renault 2.0 Championship at Nogaro in France.  The Silverstone-based team, in it’s first full season in Formula Renault, was happy with the performance of all three rookies as it bids to build on the success of its sister company British F3 champions Hitech Racing. 

In a field of 38 cars, the three youngsters all shone in the opening wet qualifying, easily running in the top ten until the conditions improved and they dropped down the order.  In the second dry session, International Rising Star Walsh had been quickest for some of the time, with Monras and Bacheta in seventh and 11^th. However the more experienced drivers capitalised on the improved conditions later in the session pushing the Hitech trio to the middle of the field. 

Race one on Saturday afternoon proved eventful, Walsh topping the results for Hitech with 12^th place at the flag after enjoying a battle with his British team-mate Bacheta, who improved from his 19^th grid slot to finish 13^th. Monras had an uneventful run into 15^th, the former karter easily as impressive as the other Formula Renault debutants.   

Yesterday’s second race again saw all drivers improve from their grid positions, Walsh in particular driving a storming race from 19^th to 13^th on the opening lap only to spin in wet conditions and have to fight his way back. This he did but dropped back down the field once more before another sterling effort from the Australian Motor Sport Foundation-backed youngster finally saw him take 17^th. 

Monras too made a storming start, gaining ten places on the opening lap and finishing the day as top Hitech driver, the youngster claiming 11^th at the flag.  Bacheta took 14^th at the flag the youngster finishing as top British driver and eighth in the rookie class. 

The Hitech Junior team now complete a two-day test at Barcelona before it resumes racing with the opening round of the 2008 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship calendar at Spa in Belgium on May 2-4. The second round of the 2008 WEC Formula Renault 2.0 Championship takes place a week later in Dijon, France on May 9-11.