Donington Park
Fastest Lap again!

On a crisp sunny day for the penultimate round of the 2003 BARC Formula Renault Championship, James sealed the title in his favour, although the day at Donington Park was run in far from idyllic circumstances.



Qualifying had proceeded in what appeared to have been a straight-forward session, with James around the top of the time-sheets, as he waited for a clear lap. Traffic had been a problem from the start of the session, but he had found the space he wanted with just a few minutes remaining. As he prepared his JA Motorsport Van Dieman RF98/99, the only one in the race, to start his last lap, the session was brought to a surprisingly premature halt, nearly 2-minutes early!

"I do not know why they did it," was James' comment afterwards, "but it certainly stopped me from getting pole position," with his best lap 'only' a 1:10.906s. His main rival Fisher had taken pole just a scant 0.237s ahead of him, although overall James said he was happy with 2nd place on the starting line-up, sure in the knowledge that he was quicker than the pole winner and that the race was a different ball game. The most surprising thing was that behind James the 3rd placed competitor was 2.235s slower and the slowness of the opposition was still readily apparent once the race got underway.



Although he knew that his main rival was on newer tyres, James remained on the older Rockingham rubber that he had qualified on, for the race. The lack of grip at the start dropped him briefly to 3rd place on the run towards the Craner Curves, which allowed Fisher to open out a sizeable gap in the first couple of laps. Once up to 2nd place though James set the fastest lap of the race, as he chipped away at the leaders advantage fraction by fraction.

Sadly no sooner was the blue and yellow JA Motorsport car into an attacking position, the leader started to weave in an unsportsmanlike manner to keep James behind him. Under the Dunlop Bridge on the approach to the chicane, it was clear that James had the greater speed, but there is little that can be done when another driver changes lines several times in a deliberate "block"! 

Although purists undoubtedly frown upon it, the rules do allow that one change of position may be adopted to stop another driver overtaking. Deliberate weaving and blocking, however, is another matter entirely, and is something that the officials should really take a driver to task on. It is dangerous and unsporting and the reality is that whilst it should not be tolerated, little if anything is ever done about it.

After several laps of experiencing these antics, James got his chance once again with a good run through the Old Hairpin, up past the Bridge and towards McLeans. He went cleanly down the inside of the leader, only to find that Fisher was intent on turning into the apex regardless. "I was faced with a £2,000 bill for a new nose," James said when back in the pits, "or swerving to avoid him." The new champion wisely chose the latter option, but sadly spun in the process, which left his rival with an untroubled run over the last couple of laps to the finish.

The outcome of the race was thus largely irrelevant, although not surprisingly James had a few words with his aggressor after the race. In result terms, however, the damage had been done. The final round of the Championship is now at the high-speed Thruxton circuit in two weeks. It is a circuit that James has never driven before, although that applied equally to Donington too, and yet he was still the fastest there anyway! 

Only now James has a point to prove. Pole, fastest lap and victory at Thruxton? The new 2003 BARC Formula Renault Champion would only smile…

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