Mark Burdett Motorsport's Josh Webster - Photo Credit: Chris Gurton Photography
Josh Webster sits third overall in the championship standings after a sensational Formula Renault UK debut during the opening weekend of the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault UK Finals Series at Snetterton, the Suffolk-based racer securing his maiden category podium during the meeting's final race.
Protyre Formula Renault BARC Vice-Champion Webster headed into the six-race 'Finals Series' looking to measure himself against some of the best Formula Renault talent in Europe with new team Mark Burdett Motorsport.
On his competitive debut in the UK-spec FR 2.0 car, Webster was instantly setting competitive times and qualified eleventh and tenth in Saturday's wet qualifying session. The BRDC Rising Star rose to seventh at the finish of the weekend's opening race, before a superb start to race two saw him move up to sixth, where he stayed until the end to cap off a gret day.
The next day, in considerably dryer conditions, Webster proved to be even quicker. Qualifying fifth for both races, the MSA Academy member knew a podium finish was on the cards. After finishing fourth in race three, Webster secured the much desired podium in race four of the weekend, bursting from fifth into second at the start before comfortably holding the position until the end.
Webster said: “Going into the weekend I didn’t know what to expect against such experienced and tough competition, so to get a podium is great – I'm really happy. We made good progress throughout and I'm sure there's more to come.
“We worked hard and improved more and more throughout the weekend, thanks to all the guys at Mark Burdett Motorsport for their hard work. Thanks as well to all my sponsors, especially James Palmer of Nine Telecom and David Marsden of Admiral Managed Networks for their continued support.”
