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26.06.2007
Sam Abay - A busy week ends with a season high mixed with diasppointment Oulton Park Formula BMW June 2007
A busy week for Sam Abay kicked off with the Future Fuels in Motorsport conference at Oxford University where the Aussie teen was joined by Energy Efficient Motorsport ambassador David Brabham, fresh from victory in last Sunday's famed LeMans 24 Hour Race with the Aston Martin Team. "It was great to be able to attend the conference and also to have the chance to meet David." said Abay. "There's no doubt our society faces some very serious environmental challenges. Just as motorsport led the way in the advancement of the passenger car in the 20th century, we now have a very real opportunity in the 21st century for our sport to lead the way in the development and advancement of environmentally friendly technologies, which will directly lead to passenger cars which have a dramatically reduced ecological footprint - it's a very exiting time to be involved." For Abay the weekend’s focus switched to the charismatic Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire, which played host to rounds 9 & 10 of the 2007 Formula BMW UK Championship. Known as a true test of driving ability, the Cheshire circuit is traditionally considered a tricky proposition for any driver making their first visit, but the pilot of the Orchard Funds/Team Loctite car once again showed his ability to come to terms quickly with the most challenging of circuits recording a season high 4th place.
"There's not much more speed we could have got out of the car in qualifying for the 1st race." said Abay, who qualified 6th, but the qualifying session for race 2 was a major disappointment for the youngster who, for the majority of the session, looked set to secure a comfortable top 5 starting position until the last lap. "We should have qualified a lot better for race 2. I set my time early before rain interrupted the session causing us all a few slippery laps. After the rain passed the track was at its best leaving time for two flying laps. Unfortunately I was baulked by traffic on both my quick laps and was one of the few drivers not to improve my time, for which we paid a heavy price, dropping down to 7th. It's a lottery in those conditions and we didn't time our run right." Abay made a solid start to race 1 before being pushed off the track after the first turn - Valle Makela (Nexa), colliding with the Orchard Funds/Team Loctite car sending the Finn spinning and resulting in Abay losing several positions. It didn't take Abay long to make up the lost ground and by the end of lap one he was back up into 6th position. The race was then interrupted by the deployment of the safety car after an accident mid-field. On the restart, Abay joined a fiercely fought battle between Henry Surtees (Carlin), Marcus Ericsson (Fortec) and Adrian Quaiffe-Hobbs (Fortec) for 3rd, 4th and 5th positions, the three racing away from the two Raikkonen Robertson cars of Dominic Storey and Carlos Huertas, who headed the remainder of the field. As Abay and the two Fortec team-mates scrapped, another accident would bring out the red flag signaling an end to the race at 3/4 distance. Abay claiming 4th position, six seconds adrift of race winner Josef Kral (Raikkonen Robertson). "It's a step in the right direction and having Oliver Turvey working on our teams data has been a significant benefit." A fantastic start from the line in a wet race 2 and Abay immediately leapt from 7th to 5th before being clipped in the run to the first corner and turned sideways in front of the pack, causing severe damage to the front of the Orchard Funds/Team Loctite entry.
"There was front wing and geometry damage after the incident and the car was almost undriveable. We just had to cruise home as best we could. I'm far from impressed as the accident was avoidable." said Abay. "I think we had a chance of a very good result in the wet and I felt we could have capitalized on our strong start. We'll file that one under character building and move on." The next round of the 2007 Formula BMW UK Championship will take place at Donington Park on July 14 & 15.
- Sam Abay Motorsport - also photos
Author: maggy (admin2)
Last modified: Tuesday, 26.06.2007 - 02:18 More reports from this category all copyright automobilsport.com.
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