Donington Park
A stellar weekend looked to be on the cards for Orchard Funds/Team Loctite driver Sam Abay after convincingly topping the time sheets in Thursday’s official Formula BMW test. Come Saturday the teenager clearly enjoying the Donington circuit dominated the qualifying session for race one to take his maiden Formula BMW UK pole position and looked set for pole position during qualifying for the second race, before a stunning last minute effort by Swede Marcus Ericsson (Fortec) relegated Abay to second on the grid.
"Our pre-season testing was virtually non-existent, but I did do a pre-season test day at Donington. So it was the first time I’ve come to a track and not had to learn it the day before qualifying and that’s obviously one factor that’s reflected in our speed. Also having the assistance of Olivier Turvey’s engineer from last year at this meeting was a big help for the whole team." said Abay.
It was the English weather that stole the show on Sunday with torrential rain delaying the start of race one for 5 hours. When the lights finally went green Abay led the charge into the first corner. A fast starting Jonathan Legris (Motaworld) managed to find a way past the Australian halfway through the first lap and as the pair raced to Coppice a mistake by Abay allowed Henry Arundel (Fortec) alongside the Orchard Funds/Team Loctite machine.
The pair ran wheel-to-wheel down the back straight, with Arundel on the inside of Abay, the Australian spinning in dramatic fashion after touching the grass with his left wheels as the pair raced to the chicane, which ended the Australian’s challenge.
Another strong start in race two saw Abay edge ahead of pole sitter Marcus Ericsson (Fortec) in the run for the first turn. The Fortec driver taking advantage of the inside line to take the lead at the exit. With an aggressive Aussie applying pressure to Ericsson, a mistake by the Swede through Coppice allowed Abay to pull along the outside in the run down the back straight, Ericsson overshooting the final chicane allowing Abay back into the lead.
Abay and Jordan Williams quickly pulled a gap over field before a mistake by the Australian exiting of the final chicane allowed Williams to challenge for the lead into the first corner on lap three, pushing the Aussie off the track on the exit and down to forth place. Abay was quickly onto the back of Jonathan Legris (Motaworld) pulling alongside the Brit down the straight, before an aggressive move by Legris forced Abay onto the grass on the back-straight, relegating the Aussie to ninth place. Abay staging a gallant fight back to 7th before the flag.
"It’s a hugely disappointing result given we had the pace to win this weekend, but pleasing that we had genuine pace. It’s another positive step forward for the whole team, we have to build on that and ensure we can translate speed to results in the future." said the Aussie.
- Sam Abay press, also photos -
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