SILVERSTONE REPORT
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Daniel Ricciardo edged ever closer to the 2009 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series championship title on Sunday at Silverstone at the BRSCC Midland Centre run meeting. The Carlin Motorsport driver netting one race win and a third-place finish, ahead of his chief title rival Walter Grubmuller, to increase his points advantage to 45 with only four races remaining. Grubmüller's Hitech team-mate Renger van der Zande was the second-race victor at Silverstone.
Meanwhile, Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin took their, and MTECH's, first Avon Tyres British GT victory. The pair led for much of the two hour endurance and ultimately won the race by half a minute, giving the 2009-spec Ferrari 430 its first success in the series. James Cole enjoyed a 21st birthday weekend to remember at Silverstone, the season-long MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain points leader returning to the winner's circle after a three-month absence and increasing his championship advantage. Cole's Jamun Racing team-mate Chrissy Palmer claimed a race win on Saturday, with Josef Newgarden taking a victory also. Volkswagen Racing Cup championship title fortunes swung full circle at the Silverstone double header as Bora driver Joe Fulbrook regained the initiative thanks to a win and a second-place finish while Donington double victor Didge Dziurzynski endured a no-score weekend through mechanical problems. Scirocco pilot Liam Griffin was the Joker-playing victor of the other Silverstone race.. With only next month's Brands Hatch rounds remaining, Fulbrook has a healthy 72-point championship lead over his closest challenger, Beetle racer Steve Chaplin, who has yet to play his Joker. Dziurzynski now has but a tiny mathematical chance of depriving Fulbrook of his second successive championship win in the Hankook-backed series. World snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan experienced all the highs and lows of his new sport at Silverstone, but thoroughly enjoyed his maiden race outings at the wheel of number 147, the Addison Lee-backed Jetta. Ronnie qualified at the back of the grid for Saturday's race and made an early exit when he spun into a gravel trap. With a valuable lesson put away, Ronnie gave a more than respectable showing on Sunday to finish 14th. After a cautious start from the tail-end of the grid he gained pace and overtook one of his rivals before the end. "At least I got a whole race in," he said. "It was a good experience, I enjoyed it very much and now I am looking forward to having another crack at Brands Hatch next month." In the Texaco Havoline Ginetta G20 Championship, Mark Davies showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals winning both races while the three Lamborghini Blancpain Super Trofeo races produced three different winners in the form of the Petri Corse, Reiter Engineering and Autovitesse teams. The meeting results can be found at Click Here |
