Shell Racing Solutions Radical Masters: Zandvoort, Race 1
24th July 2010
Jamie Patterson continued his Radical Masters fightback in fine style this afternoon, claiming the first win of the Radical Speed Weekend at Zandvoort, Holland. Patterson applied pressure on first lap leader Frederic Rouvier all the way to the pitstop window, but was able to leapfrog Rouvier’s co-driver Patrice Guillaume in the pitstops to lead to the flag.
Zandvoort’s infamous first corner, Tarzan, was passed through cleanly by all competitors, with Rouvier making the best start to overtake Patterson on the long pit straight. Jaap Bartels was chasing in third, and has obviously settled well into his new SR8, with Bassam Kronfli close behind.
The pit window opened around the 25th lap, with the order from Lap 1 maintained for both the Masters and Supersport Class, the latter seeing Marco Cencetti chased by Thomas Meidinger and Colin Noble. However, a problem for Guillaume on pulling away from the pitbox, allowed Patterson to emerge ahead. Bartels was promoted to second, with Greg Hart fourth and Terrence Woodward now fifth.
Further back, Meidinger was applying pressure on Cencetti’s teammate Andrea Fausti, but in this class, there was a rising threat; the Radical Works pairing of Henk Thuis and Rob Wheldon. On his Radical debut, Thuis had piloted their SR3 RS from the back of the grid to ninth overall, and Wheldon continued the good work after the stop. Easing past Meidinger, he passed Fausti for the lead with ten minutes to go.
With only a handful of laps to go, Terrence Woodward was passed by James Stanley, before a final shake-up of places on the last lap. Whelson was able to pass Woodward for fifth, with Patterson, Bartels and Jordan Grogor, replacing Kronfli, the podium spots.
The second race of the weekend take place tomorrow afternoon; more news to follow.