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27th April 2009
Another podium for the Dynojet Team at Thruxton
The explosive season opener three weeks ago continued the same thread at Thruxton, with new drivers joining the challenge, including Daniel Welsh, former Seat Cupra challenger and Thruxton specialist, and British Formula 3 race winner Rob Austin, making a strong line-up on the grid.
QUALIFYING
The 20 minute qualifying session culminated in the top seven drivers separated by only 0.959 second. Frank had an understeer problem with the car but still managed to make 5th on the grid for the first race of the weekend.
Frank: 'The final position was a little disappointing, but the times are close and we have good race pace, so hopefully we can make some good progress in the races.'
RACE 1
The Team had worked hard to find a good set up in time for the first race. The standing start at the abrasive Thruxton circuit was hectic. Frank made a good start, in the Dynojet G50 car, from the outside of the track, but contact with Nathan Frecke caused damage to bodywork and subsequent obstruction to visibility from a damaged bonnet. Frank continued the race after a quick pit stop for repairs. His lap times were equal to the front runners, but lost track time culminated in a 14th place in the race.
Frank: "I was really strong off the grid, but was held up by slower cars ahead, causing the pack to bunch up. This lead to slight contact in the Complex, and damage to the car, which put me down the order. I had consistently the same pace as the leaders, but was unable to make progress due to the pit stops. However, I still managed to grab some Championship points"
RACE 2
Grid 6 in race two didn't hamper a good start by Frank, but the front runners closed ranks, and an over ambitious move by Rob Austin resulted in contact with Carl Breeze and a squabble of other cars. Frank used the incident to move up to 4th on the track. Frank showed his race craft to produce good lap times with exciting overtaking manoeuvres to eventually finish in second, picking up some valuable championship points.
Frank: 'I had been concentrating on making a good start which paid off, but chaos ensued in the Complex when Austin and Breeze collided. I had to take evasive action which once again put me down the field. I managed to recover enough to finish on the rostrum, and bag a few more points. I'd like to thank the Team for the preparation, as the Dynojet car was excellent'
RACE 3
Grid 5 for the third and last race of the day, continued the trend of contact on the first few corners, with a drop down the order to 10th on lap one. By lap eight Frank had climbed the sequence in the Dynojet car up to 4th spot. Close and exciting racing continued with Frank making contact with Tom Sharp. The battle also included Daniel Welsh. The large crowd were entertained by close racing all the way to the chequered flag, where Frank finished 4th some 0.05 seconds from Daniel Welsh.
Frank: 'Another good start, but I had to go off track to avoid to the spinning car of Welsh. This put me down to 10th on the track. Thanks to the Team's well prepared Dynojet car I was able to make progress up the field. I made one last challenge at the chicane to take Welsh, and we crossed the line together. I narrowly missed a podium slot to take fourth spot."
Championship Table
1st |
Carl Breeze |
201 |
2nd |
Nathan Freke |
153 |
3rd |
Frank Wrathall |
151 |
Next Round: Donington Park 16th/17th May
--ends--
Dynojet UK
Lower House Barn
Strickens Lane
Barnacre
Preston
Lancashire
PR3 1QJ.
Tel: 01995 600500
Fax: 01995 604724
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