News

Webb Prepares for 2009 in Brands Finale

With an eye firmly on next year, North West-based racing driver, Oli Webb took on his penultimate race of the year in the Formula Renault UK Championship at Brands Hatch.

The Brands Hatch Indy round was the final race of the 2008 British Championship and Webb partly used the testing sessions to try some radical thinking out for 2009. The first thing that became clear was that the traffic levels around the circuit were going to be a big problem round the short, but challenging Indy layout.

Webb went into qualifying knowing that managing the traffic was going to be key to setting a good time. Unfortunately the improvement in luck that Webb had seen in the last round didn’t follow him South and the qualifying hoodoo left him 11^th.  Keeping the car the same but altering his time to take to the track was far more successful with Webb then posting a time good enough for sixth and very close to pole man Dean Stoneman.

The first race saw Webb get one of his now customary super starts, gaining three places before plunging down the infamous Paddock Hill Bend. Webb was then overtaken round the outside by Henry Surtees and lost a further in the middle of the manoeuvre. A slight off at Graham Hill bend saw Webb tumble down the order a further two places. There then ensued a battle with the Formula BMW graduates team mate, friend and rival, James Calado. Webb was being harried by Calado and the pressure eventually told, with the A-level student finding the slippery crumb like rubber at the periphery of the circuit and letting his sparring partner past. Calado now felt the heat with Webb glued to his gearbox and eventually he made the same mistake as his fellow Fortec driver, allowing Webb past.

Race two was far less dramatic, with the sheer closeness in ability between the Formula Renault drivers being demonstrated with a race where the top 10 didn’t alter from lights to flag. Webb stationed in 6^th throughout, came very close to passing Adam Christodoulou, getting alongside him at one point, but he couldn’t make the move stick.

Webb was relaxed after two creditable performances and commented: “This weekend has largely been about further preparation for next year. We tried out some radical things in testing to see where they go us and it gave us good information for 2009. Race one was disappointing for me, because it is the only time I have finished lower than my grid positing all year. Race two was a little frustrating, as I am so used to getting beyond my qualifying position, but it just demonstrates how close we all are in performance. I was quicker than those in front for some parts of the race, but I just couldn’t find a way past.

Webb will be back in action at Spa for the final round of the Formula Renault European series on the 4^th and 5^th October.