Round 6 - Thruxton - Race - Final
Josef Kral claimed his third Formula BMW UK Championship win of the season with Henry Surtees (Carlin Motorsport) topping the Rookies.
From fifth on the grid, Kral made a good start and passed Fortec drivers Marcus Ericsson and Henry Arundel on the first lap. A great move round the outside of Oliver Webb (Carlin Motorsport) into Club for second place left him in a position to chase down Surtees for the lead. Just two laps later, Kral was right on the gearbox of his fellow 16-year-old and made a repeat of his earlier move into Club to take the lead.
Kral, who was still in pain from an injury sustained in qualifying, commented: "This was the hardest race of the year so far; every time you pass someone they attack you straight back! It was very hard to overtake Surtees because the wind was giving me a lot of understeer at Church, but he was braking a little earlier than me for the chicane and I managed to pass him."
Pole-sitter Surtees pushed Kral as the pair broke away from the chasing pack but he was unable to get past the Czech. "It's unfortunate that he got away from me," Surtees commented. "Even after he got ahead I could stay with him and was still thinking about getting the lead back. It is a little bit frustrating not to have got the win, but I'm still happy enough. Second is good points, it's all good experience and I'm learning more every race."
Henry Arundel (Fortec Motorsport) had an action-packed race, in which he dropped from third to sixth but fought his way back up, eventually passing team-mate Ericsson to claim the final spot on the podium.
Ericsson remains in the Championship lead, finishing second Rookie, in fourth position. Following his great qualifying performance on Saturday to put him second on the grid, Oliver Webb (Carlin Motorsport) rounded out the top Rookie trio despite a disappointing race leaving him sixth overall.
The drivers now have nearly a month off to prepare for their next outing, when the Formula BMW UK Championship 2007 will head north to Croft for some more great racing action.
- Ingo Lehbrink -
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