Sensational Single Seater Debut For Morris

 

Seb Morris produced a superb debut in the opening rounds of the 2012 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship at Snetterton, the rookie taking three pole positions and a dominant maiden victory to open his season in style.

Fortec Motorsport's Morris destroyed the competition in the wet qualifying sessions, taking his maiden category pole position in the opening session by 0.8 seconds. In the second session, he stormed to pole position for rounds two and three by 0.9s and 0.7s respectively to fire a warning shot to his rivals.

A perfect start to the opening race saw the reigning Ginetta Junior Champion lead by 1.5 seconds after the opening lap, but a mistake on lap two saw him run wide at Riches. Morris slipped to the bottom of the top ten, but fought back to a strong sixth place finish.

A dry round two the next day saw Morris in a league of his own, comfortably negotiating a safety car period on his way to a lights to flag victory, Morris set the race's fastest lap on the way to his maiden victory, 7.3s ahead of his closest rival.

Round three saw a return to the wet conditions they had in qualifying and Morris was confident of a win until a stall on the line dropped him outside the top ten. A superb recovery had seen him up to fifth by the end of the opening lap, however a moment on lap two saw him drop back to outside the top ten. A second recovery saw him fight his way back to take fifth at the finish to end the weekend second in the championship.

Morris said: “It's been a fantastic first weekend in Formula Renault BARC. Fortec put together a great car and it's a great championship to be in, it's teaching me so much – Saturday's race actually taught me more than if I'd have won it. I'm disappointed we weren't on the podium in all three races, as we should have been, but it's still been a great start to my single-seater career. There are so many people I need to thank but especially the team, my family and my fantastic sponsors.”