Archie Hamilton put in strong performance in Rounds Three and Four of the ultra-competitive 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship, taking his second podium of the season in the first race, though proved frustrated throughout the weekend at not being able to overtake around the tight Indy circuit.
Qualifying saw the 20 year old holding P1 for most of the first session, with a best time of 45.197, faster than the previous lap record. However last gasp laps from his Fortec Motorsport team mates Kieran Vernon and Josh Webster dropped him to third, though he was just 0.006s off pole and 0,001s off second.
The second session saw Archie tactically waiting to go out, however it didn't go to plan when the red flag came out. When the session restarted, he was unable to find a traffic free lap and had to settle for fifth on the grid, less than two-tenths from pole.
A good start in race one saw him pull away with his Fortec team-mates at the front. A safety cr period just after mid-distance allowed his rivals to catch up, but a solid restart saw him maintain third, which he held to the finish for valuable championship points.
Race two saw a slow start cost him two places, which he was unable to take back, as like the rest of the field, the Basingstoke-based driver found overtaking virtually impossible around the Kent track. A retirement for team-mate Vernon handed Archie sixth, his fourth top six finish of the season. The results see him take third place in the championship standings, thirteen points off the top of the standings.
Hamilton commented: “It's been a frustrating weekend. Qualifying basically dictated the results and I lost out on pole in race one by just six-thousandths and for race two it was down to luck given the red flag and traffic. It could have been worse and it's good to retain third in the championship and have the leader in my sights. I'm optimistic about Oulton Park as I was Driver of the Day when I last raced there with Porsche. I'm aiming for my first win and to close the gap to the Championship lead.”
Photo Credit: Simon Paice
