METCALFE DELIGHTED WITH BRANDS HATCH PACE

Formula Renault UK star Jeremy Metcalfe continued his tremendous return to form at Brands Hatch today with an impressive display in official testing ahead of the weekend’s penultimate race meeting of the 2006 season.

The 18-year-old, who will this weekend be presented with the Donington Park Racing Association Club (DPRAC) Cup which he won two weeks ago at the Leicestershire venue, is aiming to add to his season’s tally of four podiums during rounds 17 and 18 on Sunday and certainly made an excellent start during a brace of wet test sessions today.

On the Kent venue’s famous 1.2-mile Indy Circuit, Jeremy was consistently competitive throughout both 50-minute sessions and after heading the times for most of the morning the Fleet-based AKA Lemac star concluded the opening period with the seventh fastest lap of 47.756 seconds (90.34mph).

Although wet weather was prevalent for most of the test, the morning session did have a very small window where a handful of drivers choosing to run slick tyres did benefit from a break in the rain. The resulting times, therefore, do distort the true picture.

Jeremy, however, was genuinely competitive all day and in the afternoon he set a best lap time of 49.063 seconds (87.94mph) to underline his promise and look forward to a successful weekend.

“It’s been really good today”, explained Jeremy, “Basically we were fastest all day in the wet. Although three or four drivers managed to put in quicker times at the end, I wasn’t running at the time so I’m feeling quite confident for tomorrow.

“Everything has been very encouraging, in the wet we know we’re strong but I think we’ll still be competitive if it’s dry tomorrow. This morning some drivers did put on slicks and set some fast times about halfway through the session, but there was only a three or four lap window in which to do that before it started raining again so the times are misleading.

“We’re delighted with our performance though, the car has been very good and we were able to run consistently quickly all day which is promising. It’s been a very positive start to the weekend.”

The 17th and 18th rounds of the 2006 championship see Formula Renault UK return to its regular slot on the British Touring Car Championship support package. Qualifying for round 17 will take place tomorrow, Saturday, 23rd September, at 11.20 with the round 18 session to follow at 16.00.

Both races are scheduled for Sunday, 24th September, at 11.55 and 15.05 respectively and will be broadcast live on Motors TV, channel 413 of the Sky Digital platform and through cable provider NTL on channel 545.