David once again came very close to securing his first podium finish in this year's Formula Renault UK Championship, but just missed out by finishing 4th.
Rounds 7 and 8 took part at a crowded Oulton Park on the hottest weekend of the year so far. In Friday testing, David was on the pace and looking very strong for the weekend. Saturday's qualifying sessions took place in extremely hot conditions. In the first qualifying session David managed to set the 6th fastest time however in the second qualifying session David could only manage the 12th fastest time as he experienced heavy traffic when the track was at its fastest.
David commented; "Both qualifying sessions were tough because of the amount of traffic, it was hard to back off and find space because there were always slower cars around. In the first qualifying session I was held up quite a bit and I believe I could have set a quicker time. In the second session the track rubbered up more than expected and as a result was getting quicker and quicker as the session progressed. Unfortunately I hit heavy traffic when the track was at its fastest and could not improve on my times. However taking the positive for the qualifying sessions I believe I gained valuable experience in terms of qualifying in hot weather conditions combined with heavy traffic".
Due to the short start/finish straight at Oulton Park the cars line up on the grid in a two by two formation. With the tightly packed grid, there was always a risk of general carnage, mayhem and disaster at the start and during the first corner. As the lights went out in the first race, David lost a position to Oakes who had a good start. Oakes then ran wide at the first corner and as he rejoined the circuit David managed to get on the inside going down to Cascades. Webb was also in the mix as he came alongside Oakes, David broke the latest out of the three into Cascades and managed to take both positions. As David passed Oakes, Oakes ran into the back of fourth place driver Calado taking them both out of the race. Going down to the third corner, Island Hairpin, David was up to 3rd place behind race leader Tincknell and Manor team mate Smith. David struggled with getting enough heat into his tyres which meant he ran wide on the exit of Knickerbrook allowing Webb to close up the gap. Webb managed to pass David on on the next lap at the Island Hairpin. For the middle stages of the race David had to hold off Fortec's Blomstedt. After a safety car period David managed to pull a gap on Blomstedt which he maintained for the rest of the race. Despite losing ground to the leading pack whilst defending his 4th place position David managed to peg the gap in the latter stages of the race but unfortunately was unable to close it.
Race two was the last race of the day, and was unfortunately a different story for David. Despite getting a very good start, David was boxed at the first corner and was forced wide onto the grass which dropped him down the order. The next few laps could only be described as character building as David made up several positions only to be forced down again by some questionable manoeuvres from certain drivers. After being side swiped in one such manoeuvre, David suffered damaged to the front left wishbone which left him struggling with a car which was snapping out with oversteer in right hand corners. In the end David could only manage to fight his way up to 13th from being 20th at one point in the race.
Commenting on both races David said; "Race two was disappointing because there was nothing I could have done, I basically got hit off the track twice and had to avoid someone else who was about to drive into the side of me, so overall I am very disappointed with the standard of driving from some of my competitors. However race one went pretty well, I struggled with lack of grip in the beginning stages because it was difficult to get the heat into the tyres which may have cost me 3rd place. When the tyres came on the car felt pretty good and I am quite happy to have finished 4th from 6th on the grid. We definitely have the pace to be competitive and I am confident that it is only a matter of time before I am on the podium. I am really looking forward to the Croft race weekend in two weeks time because it is one of my favourite tracks and I was really quick there in official testing."
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