Zamparelli Endures Frustrating Opening Weekend

The 2011 Formula Renault BARC opener at Donington Park was one to forget for Dino Zamparelli. Having shown quick pace all weekend in his Antel run Formula Renault, Zamparelli left Donington Park frustrated with only 4th and 8th place finishes to his name.

Zamparelli claims first pole position in over 18 months
Having only completed two qualifying rounds in 2010, and not having had a full campaign since 2009, the BRDC Rising Star claimed pole position for the first round of the championship by over a tenth from his nearest competitor. Zamparelli then claimed 2nd place grid slot for round two.

“Qualifying went OK. We’d only had one or two sets prior to this weekend and we hadn’t put new tyres on round Donington, as we went straight into qualifying.

“I didn’t get the best out of my tyres, that’s for sure. And my run wasn’t great, but I still managed pole position, which was a bonus. For the second qualifying, I didn’t get my perfect lap together and was short a couple of tenths of pole position. However, I’m happy with and I’ll be able to race from there.”

The Start of the Achilles Hill
Lining up on pole position for the opening round, Zamparelli made a dreadful start, losing a handful of positions and tumbling down to 5th place by the end of lap 1.

“I got too much wheel spin. My tyres weren’t up to temperature for the opening couple of laps for some reason and so lost momentum. By lap 6 I was quickest on track by some margin and then I was on the attack with the car feeling really good.”

Moving up to 4th place on lap 7, Dino then went on to pursue a podium position, but was to be halted by Steven Durrant who drove defensively to stop Zamparelli getting through.

“Steve (Durrant) drove well to claim his podium ahead of me. My downfall was at the start. I had the pace to be leading but once you fall back in these cars, it is very hard to overtake, especially round a circuit like this one.”

For round 2, the 18-year old from Bristol again made a less than perfect start and fell back to 3rd position at the start. By the end of lap 2, Zamparelli found himself back down in 5th place having made a few costly errors in the opening laps.

However, Zamparelli started to fight his way back through and made a brave move round the outside of the first corner on fellow competitor Josh Webster, which paid off. Up to 4th place, Zamparelli then latched on to the back of Archie Hamilton and made the move once again round the outside of the first corner. But this time Zamparelli was to be tapped into a spin and into the gravel trap.

Zamparelli put the car into 1st gear whilst spinning into the gravel, keeping the momentum going and get back out onto the track, albeit in 12th place. With two laps to go, Zamparelli salvaged an 8th place finish with some last gasp manoeuvres, with a frustrated Zamparelli admitting that even 8th place, albeit with a new lap record, was little consolation for a bad weekend.

“What a frustrating weekend that was! Both my races were undone by my bad starts. I had the pace to win both races comfortably. I set a lap record in race two which was well over 4 tenths quicker than any other driver on circuit - my lap record was only a tenth slower than my qualifying time!”

Positive Outlook
Despite feeling defeated, Dino was quick to see the positives from the weekend and has vowed to come back stronger.

“It’s not all bad. My pace was strong and my qualifying was good as I haven’t qualified or been on new tyres for a long time. Then there was some overtaking which I was happy with.
“I have to improve on are my starts and my race craft. The race craft should come easily, but the starts we improve on before Brands. I’m looking forward to Brands Hatch now to bounce back and get some wins under my belt!”

Rounds 3 & 4 of the Formula Renault BARC Championship take place at Brands Hatch on the 14th/15th of May

Photos courtesy of Jakob Ebrey Photography