Surtees: The Official Website

Formula Renault Winter Series

Henry didn’t quite win the Renault Winter Series Championship by a margin of 4 points at the final two rounds at Rockingham. The weekend saw a continuous change in weather conditions. With the car working well and the pace, he lost out on a potential pole position by being held up on the fastest laps by cars slowing and the track drying. A misjudgement in quite how much the track had dried in the first race left Henry struggling with quite a lively car. For a while he was up to 2nd place only for him to have a lock up and lose two places so finishing 4th in the first race.

It was to slick tyres for the second race and a track that was basically dry, at least on the racing line. Early in the race Henry had been holding a steady 3rd position. The course car came out and Henry took the opportunity, from a long way back, to dive up the inside of Oliver Webb and get the dry inside line so taking 2nd place which he held to the finish of the second race. James Calado had recovered from making an early error at the first corner to finish 7th which together with his fastest lap gave him the Championship.

So with a pole, a 1st and 2nd in his first drives in Formula 3 at Donington followed by the same results in the Renault Winter Series at Croft and then 2nd and 4th place at Rockingham it hasn’t been a bad end to the season. The question is what next?

John Surtees

10 November 2008