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16th July 2006

Qualifying 1

Viktor Jensen claimed pole position for the first of two Formula Palmer Audi races at Snetterton after snatching the top spot from Jon Barnes in the final seconds of qualifying. Chris Hyman took third place on the grid with Josh Southall fourth and Aaron Steele fifth.

As at Brands Hatch two weeks earlier it was Jensen who got his session off to the best start but after five minutes Barnes took the lead. Hyman soon slotted into second, just a few hundredths of a second behind Barnes and that was how the top three stayed for most of the session.

Further down the order James Wingfield was looking at a fourth place starting spot until first Aaron Steele and then Josh Southall went ahead of him. In the fight for places in the top 10, Wesley Fongenie squeezed Chris Bell out of 10th with a minute left on the clock.

At the front both Jensen and Barnes were pushing hard. Barnes had made some interesting car setup tweeks while in the pits and they seemed to be working well. Jensen was running just ahead of Barnes on the track, giving Barnes a great insight into how fast Jensen was going. Jensen closed the gap only for Barnes to go quicker still, but then Barnes encountered gearbox trouble while on a lap which would have secured pole position. Right at the end of the session, Jensen put a lap together that was three tenths faster than Barnes, giving him pole.

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Qualifying 2

Chris Hyman took his second pole position of the 2006 Formula Palmer Audi Championship as he beat Viktor Jensen in the second qualifying session at Snetterton. Jon Barnes got third with James Wingfield fourth and Aaron Steele fifth.

Steele was on the pace quickly, setting the best time after five minutes before a red flag when Giacomo Petrobelli and Tom Haines went off at Riches. Petrobelli had already set a time that would be good enough for seventh place, but Haines would have to start race two from 14th.

When the session got under way again a fight developed for pole with Wingfield being the first to knock Steele off the top. Then it was Jensen's turn at the sharp end thanks to a lap that, over seven-tenths quicker than anyone else, looked as though it would win him pole.

The others, however, were pushing hard with Barnes getting closer and Hyman spinning at Russell as he tried to go that bit faster. Then the South African put together a lap that was five hundredths of a second fastest than Jensen's best before completing another that was quicker still. That left Jensen with only a couple of chances to take his second pole of the day and it looked as though he might do it. As he crossed the line after the chequered flag, however, his final lap was just 0.024 seconds down on Hyman, who was delighted with the result:

"I'm chuffed to bits with that," he commented. "I like Snetterton, it's been good to me over the years. It's a very technical track but it rewards you if you get it right and it rewards you not with small amounts but big chunks of time. In the first session I was quite quick and knew that if I fixed three things I could do it, but I won't say what those three things were!"

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Race 1

Jon Barnes got himself a four point lead in the Formula Palmer Audi Championship at Snetterton as he took victory ahead of Viktor Jensen. The two drivers had been level on points heading into the weekend but Barnes took advantage on the restart after a safety car period to take victory.

All of the top four got away well at the start with Jensen leading from Barnes, Chris Hyman and Josh Southall. Wesley Fongenie made a great start from 10th to leap up to seventh, but Chris Bell got back ahead before the end of lap two. Further down the order John Bell also passed James Wingfield on the second lap, Wingfield struggling with an electrical problem.

On the third lap, Aaron Steele got ahead of Giacomo Petrobelli as Jensen eased out a small lead at the front. Tony Brewer got ahead of Wingfield as the Kwikpower-backed driver headed for the pits.

After his great start, Fongenie dropped another place as Barry Walsh got past on lap three, leaving Paul Warren on Fongenie's gearbox, keen to get into the top 10. Warren went for the inside into Riches on lap five but hit the back of Fongenie, the pair both spinning off and out of the race. With close racing thanks to plenty of slipstreaming on the long straights another incident followed, this time bringing the safety car out onto the track.

After four laps behind the safety car the race restarted, with both Barnes and Southall using the opportunity wisely.

"Jensen got a decent jump out of the final chicane but I got in his slipstream and got a run on him," said Barnes. "As we went into Riches, Viktor defended, so I went for the outside and braked late. He ran a little wide in the middle of the corner and I managed to get back on the inside at the second apex. Hyman then got on the inside of him at Sears which gave me a chance to pull out a lead."

As Hyman went for the move on Jensen it held him up slightly, giving Southall the chance he was looking for to take the final podium place. "Hyman was quick all through the race but I noticed he was changing his braking point into the Esses," said Southall. "The safety car gave me some time to think about what to do and on the restart I stuck to him like glue. As we came down the Revett straight I got alongside him, we were wheel to wheel through the first part of the Esses with me on the right, but then I had the inside for the second part and he had to give me it."

Although Hyman stayed right behind Southall to the end he couldn't get back ahead and was left to look forward to starting race two from pole.

Barnes had saved almost all of his overboost for the final laps of the race, and used them well to open out a 2 second lead on Jensen by the time the race had finished.

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Race 2

Jon Barnes pulled out a useful advantage over Viktor Jensen in the Formula Palmer Audi Championship with a second win of the weekend at Snetterton. Jensen finished ahead of Aaron Steele - taking his first ever FPA podium in third.

A great start catapulted Barnes from third on the grid into the lead, "We all seemed to get away together," said Barnes. "But then as I shifted into second the others seemed to bog down and I got ahead." Up the inside into Riches he took the lead, with Hyman and Jensen following. By the end of the Revett straight though, Wingfield was ahead of both of them after starting fourth.

Hyman was keen to make up for losing the lead and went for the outside at Riches on lap 2. He ran wide, however, dropping back to sixth, where he would later finish. As Hyman dropped back Jensen took second from Wingfield, with Josh Southall getting ahead of Steele for fourth after starting sixth.

Behind them a train of five cars fought a battle for seventh place. Tom Haines would eventually come through to the front of the battle, having started 14th. He was followed to the line by Giacomo Petrobelli, Chris Bell and Paul Warren with Barry Walsh dropping to the back after being in the thick of the action early on.

At the front Jensen was pushing hard, getting fastest lap after fastest lap to close up to the back of Barnes with just 5 laps to go. However, Barnes had again saved all of his overboost for the end of the race, and he used the boost to open out a small gap. Then the two frontrunners caught Walsh as they came to lap him and Barnes was able to make the most of it, stretching out his lead still further towards the end.

Mark Powell finished 11th after a battle with Paul Warren over 10th, Warren winning the fight and Powell dropping back towards the end. There was a race-long skirmish between Alan Kempson and Wesley Fongenie with Kempson staying ahead right until the end, when Fongenie got through. Derrick Collin and Bill Knowles fought closely for 15th and stayed together throughout except for when John Bell came between them as he rose up to 13th.

With just eight points separating the top two drivers in the Formula Palmer Audi Championship, the series now has a break before the final two European rounds, at Dijon on September 2/3 and Mugello on September 16/17.

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ENDS