Donington Park, England – September 9, 2007. In
front of nearly 100,000 spectators Fairuz Fauzy added to
his points tally with a terrific drive from the back of
the grid in the latest round of the World Series by Renault
3.5.
After scoring four points for recording the fastest time
in his qualifying group on Saturday morning, the Malaysian
also netted a point for his tenth place finish in race
two. It was a storming drive from the Cram ace who - after
failing to finish race one - was forced to start towards
the back, in 26th position, in Sunday’s second encounter.
“That was a fantastic race, one of my best drives
of the season so far,” said a delighted Fairuz afterwards. “I
passed 16 cars in total to get into the final points position,
I’m very happy and delighted for the team to get
this result after the problems of yesterday.”
Fairuz praised his Cram mechanics after their hard ensured
his Dallara was ready to start the second World Series
by Renault race after his accident at the Old Hairpin on
Saturday. A minor set-up tweak also ensured the Malaysian
was confident with the car’s handling. “I’m
very thankful for my team to turn things around and you
can see that we have a great car now – and the reward
is this great result.”
With two safety car periods, Fairuz was just 6.124 seconds
off winner James Walker at the chequered flag, after 30
laps around the former grand prix circuit. It was a combination
of catching his rivals out during restarts, and a strategic
call to preserve his tyres in the opening stages which
allowed the 24-year-old to scythe through the field.
“It was just like racing go-karts,” said Fairuz. “A
number of us, including my Cram team-mate Pippa Mann and
also Clivio Piccione had a really big fight, passing and
re-passing each other every lap. It was clean and really
fun racing. The car didn’t have the problems of graining
on the rear tyres that we had in the first race, so I had
the confidence to push, even though the track was a lot
slippery on Sunday.”
“We’ve learnt a lot this weekend,” he
added. “But the result shows how competitive Renault
World Series is with yet another different winner. We showed
we had the pace in testing, were quickest in qualifying
and had the race craft to finish in the points after starting
at the back. I’m confident that we are improving
our car all the time and can’t wait to race again.”
The next World Series by Renault meeting takes place at
the F1 circuit of Magny-Cours, south of Paris on September
22/23.
Race one result - Donington Park:
1 Alvaro Barba (ESP), Draco, 46m 38.919s
2 Julien Jousse (FRA), Tech 1, +0.257s
3 Bertrand Baguette (BEL), KTR, +1.668s
R Fairuz Fauzy (MAL), Cram Competition, +19 laps
Race two result
1 James Walker (GBR), Fortec, 46m 02.035s
2 Guillaume Moreau (FRA), KTR, +0.614s
3 Marco Bonanomi (ITA), RC Motorsport, +2.274s
10 Fairuz Fauzy (MAL), Cram Competition, +6.124s | 