Wednesday, September 19, 2018

A winning weekend for Infinity

With championships reaching a critical point in the season, the excitement has hit fever pitch and this weekend was no exception. With a clean sweep in Italian F4, a debut podium in British Touring Car’s and yet another podium trip in Formula Renault Eurocup we recap on what was a sensational haul for our talented bunch…

Clean Sweep for Olli Caldwell in Italian F4…

Following a prolonged break in the calendar, Olli Caldwell was back at the wheel for the penultimate round of Italian F4 at Vallelunga.

Lighting up the timing screens as qualifying got underway on Saturday morning, Olli secured his first pole position in the Italian championship finishing 0.110s ahead of his teammate Fittipaldi. Continuing his great form, the sixteen year old, produced another unbeatable set of laps to secure poles in all three races.

Truly demonstrating himself as a star of the future, Oli went on to run 3 inch perfect races, whilst expertly managing safety car restarts along the way. Claiming a hat-trick of victories and poles as well as fastest lap in Race 1, it was a near perfect weekend for the Prema driver. With just a mere 38 between Olli and the overall championship honours it’s all to play for as the championship heads into it’s final round in Mugello in just over a months time.

Speaking of his flawless performance, Infinity Director Harry Soden commented:

“What a perfect weekend for Olli, which now puts him right back in the fight for the championship. Credit to him, he’s worked really hard in the summer break and that hard work has shown on the track this weekend”

An All-infinity lockout in Formula Renault Eurocup

In the first Formula Renault double-header this season we joined Max Fewtrell, Logan Sargeant and Frank Bird in the Formula Renault paddock at the Nürburgring.

After persistent fog cancelled running on Thursday, the test sessions were moved to bright and early on Friday morning. Max was quick to top the timing screens, laying down his intentions ahead of the weekend’s actions, whilst Logan was hot on his heels, putting in his own rapid laps. When qualifying got underway, Max set the mark of 1:56.141 as the first qualifying group took to the track, but it was Logan who claimed the upper hand, shaving an impressive 0.271s off Max’s efforts, to claim pole position for Race 1.

With the R-ace GP pair locking out the front row, it was an all-out battle to the first tight right-hander. As Logan managed to hold on to the lead, Yifei Ye was quick to put Max under pressure, running side-by-side as they swept through the first few corners, whilst Lundgaard seized his opportunity to take the duelling pair. Dropping back to 4th initially, Max wasted no time and immediately put the power down to get the better of Ye and set after 3rd. Whilst Frank Bird saw his race brought to a premature end with an engine issue.

By the time the race reached half distance, Max was hooked into Lundgaard’s tail, judging his move perfectly he utilised the slipstream and claimed the outside line into Turn 1, setting up for the better run to take back his starting position. Crossing the line, Logan took a lights-to-flag victory, being joined by Max on the podium, we celebrated another 1-2 for the R-ace GP teammates.

Logan Sargeant spoke on his winning form:

“It is great to finally be back on the top step of the podium and I want to thank R-ace GP for their work. Our pace was rather solid at Spa and the Hungaroring, but I needed to put everything together.”

Ready to strike back in Race 2, Max put himself in good stead, by earning himself pole position in the second qualifying session on Sunday morning. Narrowly shy of putting in his best lap time, Logan started from P4, ready to put pressure on those ahead. Maintaining his lead off the line, Max lead the way until a safety car was called on Lap 2 to recover a stranded car on the start-finish straight. Unfazed by the interruption, racing resumed and Max went on to run an effortless lights-to-flag victory. His and Logan’s efforts contributing to R-ace GP sealing the team’s title, with two race meetings remaining. Whilst Max firmly placed himself back in title contention.

Following his victory, Max Fewtrell reflected on a positive weekend:

“This weekend, we were fast from the beginning. We kept our heads down over the three days and our work paid off. Before Budapest, I thought that it would be difficult to compete for the title, but we’re right back in the game! We have always known that we have the potential.”

Director of Infinity Sports Management, Gary Catt reviewed:

“It was a good weekend for our drivers in Nurburgring with Logan & Max taking a win each.
Frank had some engine issues in Race One and then a tough day on Sunday. He’s moved forward massively this year so I’m sure he’ll bounce back this weekend at Hockenheim.
Max’s double podium has brought him right back into play in the Championship race with 2 rounds to go. Logan has had some bad luck lately so it was good for him to get back to winning ways. With 2 rounds to go he’ll be pushing hard for more wins to end the seasons on a high.”

With these victories and results elsewhere it was a brilliant weekend for Infinity’s drivers.


Debut BTCC Podium for Ricky Collard

Away from single-seaters, Ricky Collard joined the BTCC grid, standing in for his father, Rob Collard. Showing promising pace from the off, Ricky took to the track at Silverstone against the field of experienced touring car racers.

The BMW Motorsport Junior wasted no time in demonstrating his raw talent claiming 2nd place on the grid in only his 3rd outing. Putting the power down into Turn 1, Ricky gave it everything to pressure the leader, but found himself run wide at Copse. Dropping to 5th on the road, the young rookie gave relentless chase in pursuit of making place back. Battling wheel-to-wheel throughout the opening race, Ricky made his way through to take 3rd place from Jack Goff in the latter stages, claiming his first ever podium in the championship.

An elated Ricky Collard spoke of his success:

“It’s unbelievable! I went into the race with the aim of not lifting into Turn 1. I didn’t lift and it didn’t pay off, but it was worth a shot. To come away with a podium is amazing. I could see the mistake had cost me, dropping back to 5th, but I was so focused and fired up. My result is a credit to the team, they’ve done an amazing job and I can’t fault them”

Harry Soden added:

“After a difficult few races Ricky is now showing his pace and adapting to BTCC nicely, I’m sure there are more podiums to come”

Despite ballast presenting a new challenge for the rookie in the second race, Ricky further went on to claim 4th place at the flag, sealing off a sensational performance at the popular circuit.