9 August 2009

Zamparelli storms to two victories at Donington Park!

BRDC Rising Star Dino Zamparelli further proved his credentials in the Formula Renault BARC Championship by taking two stunning victories in rounds 6 & 7 of the championship.

Sixteen year old Zamparelli dominated qualifying and took pole position for Race One by just under 4 tenths of a second. For Race Two, Zamparelli was on pole by 2.5 tenths.

Reflecting on his qualifying, Zamparelli said “Qualifying was a big surprise for me. The car was excellent on the new tyres and that’s credit to all the work from the boys at Mtech/Reon. I was surprised by how easy the time was coming to me, and how natural it felt.”

“To be on pole in a one-make championship by 4 tenths is not easy. I lost more time for the second qualifying because the balance was just slightly out on the car, but still managed to put it on pole, and the team made a correction for the races.”

Race One took place in sunny conditions as the cars formed on the grid. Zamparelli made a strong getaway and led into the first corner. From then on he was consistently the fastest man on the track, by half a second to a second a lap.

He had pulled a sizeable gap of around 4 seconds over championship leader Kieren Clark until the safety car came out for an accident on track. Unfazed by the slow down, Zamparelli completed the last three laps with Clark closely following.

Zamparelli crossed the line half a second ahead of Clark, ending Clark’s unbeaten run in the Championship.

“It felt really good crossing the line ahead of everyone! It was a relatively straightforward race. I didn’t make the greatest of starts but it was good enough to come out of the first corner leading. I glanced in the mirrors on the opening lap and saw Clark’s car close by. I then looked a few laps later and there was no car close behind so I knew I could ease off a little to save the tyres for Race Two.”

“When the safety car came out, I didn’t panic or fluster, I knew I had the pace so instead was inspired by the challenge of pulling out another lead! I made a good restart and pulled a small gap of around 1 second over Clark. From there I crossed the line, and then backed off to celebrate with my team.”

It was much the same story for Race Two as Zamparelli had a decent launch off the line and led out of the first corner. Zamparelli pushed hard on the opening laps and pulled yet another 4 second gap over nearest rival Brett Parris.

At the half way point, the safety car came out for another incident on track. Once again, Zamparelli made an excellent restart and was consistently half a second faster than any other driver. With 6 laps left, Zamparelli crossed the line 5.5 seconds ahead of second place. Zamparelli also achieved the fastest lap in Race Two.

“It’s been an excellent weekend for me. To get my first two wins under my belt was very satisfying. Importantly I handled the safety car periods well, and kept the pressure off for the entire weekend.”

“I’m happier now because I managed to get the fastest lap in that race as well. Once I got into the lead, I just kept pushing as hard as possible and pulled a lead ahead of Parris. And with Clark finishing fourth in that race, it means we’ve clawed back some points in the Championship.”

“However, I’m not worried about the Championship at this point. I’m just happy focusing on the wins and improving with the car and the team. So a big thank you to Mtech/Reon for all their hard work throughout the week. The Team worked hard on Friday to get the car right and it worked.”

“I’m looking forward to the next rounds at Brands Hatch where I’m hoping for repeat success!” Zamparelli added.

Rounds 8 & 9 of the Formula Renault BARC Championship will take place at Brands Hatch, on the 23rd of August 2009.