16 year old Josh Webster enjoyed a great start to the 2010 Michelin Formula Renault Winter Championship, dominating the BARC class all weekend at his home circuit of Snetterton. He picked up two race wins, two fastest laps and a new lap record to head the class standings heading to the series finale at Pembrey.
The Fortec Motorsport man headed into the series with a great fourth place overall in the main Formula Renault BARC Championship. He instantly showed his pace in the official testing session, finishing a second quicker than his closest rivals. He wasn't able to convert this into a pole in qualifying though, with the youngster picking the wrong tyres for a drying circuit, ending up second in class for both.
Race one started superbly, with Webster shooting to the front of the BARC class early on. Leading the pack into a safety car period, he controlled the restart to rebuild his lead, taking the victory by nine seconds from his nearest rival. Lining up second for race two, he took the lead on lap two and never looked back. Setting a brand new BARC lap record along the way, he scorched away to win by a huge 15 seconds.
“Snetterton was absolutely fantastic”, he commented, “I want to say a huge thank you to the team for giving me a great car as always. Qualifying didn't go according to plan as we were on the wrong tyres but in the races I was able to show my true pace. Two wins is a perfect way to start the winter series and to set a new BARC lap record was the icing on the cake.
“I also need to thank my fantastic sponsors for their on-going support. Special thanks go to James Palmer of Nine Telecom Group and Graham McMullen of Admiral Solutions and Support for helping me race in the winter series and also to Doodson Broking Group for their valuable contribution.”
Josh heads to Pembrey for the winter series finale next weekend, 13th/14th November, with a six point class lead. Two double headers over the weekend will decide if he can take the BARC class win.
