Duncan Tappy shines in World Series test in Valencia • Duncan Tappy Racing

World Series Formula Renault 3.5
Valencia, Spain 28th & 29th November 2007

Duncan Tappy spent two days in World Series by Renault cars with two different teams as part of the next step in his racing career. He is looking to make the move to the international series and tested with Red Devil Team Comtec on Wednesday and Fortec Motorsport today.

With Comtec Duncan had a good start and made steady progress gaining time throughout the day. After the morning session he was an impressive eighth overall and finished the day a very credible 13th on the timing sheets among drivers that had mainly raced throughout the season or at earlier tests. He learned about the car and working with the team for the full day putting in 90 laps on the technical Spanish track.

Thursday saw him move to the next-door garage and take to the circuit with Fortec Motorsport’s World Series team – sister to the squad that engineered him to his Formula Renault UK Championship title this season.

In the morning session Duncan was disappointed with his time, just seven-thousandths of a second short of his best from Wednesday. The team was not happy with the car and made some significant changes over the lunch break.

While not making as much of an improvement as was hoped, Duncan put in his fastest time of the two days of 1 minute 22.961 seconds – putting him in 16th in the session but just 0.933 seconds from the fastest time. Over the course of the two days Duncan put in 168 laps of the 4.050km track.

Duncan said: “The car is awesome to drive! It’s physically demanding and technically there’s a lot to get out of the car. It’s very rewarding when you get it nailed. The biggest challenge for me was getting used to how good the brakes are.

“I’m very pleased with both days. There was more to come from me so I know with time in the car I can be up there. Braking was my biggest challenge but I started to make progress there and I was happy that my speed in the high speed corners by the end of the two days was matching the second year drivers out there. There’s still a huge amount to learn but the car feels right for me.”

Jonathan Lewis, Race Director, Red Devil Team Comtec, added: “Stunning! He hasn’t put a wheel wrong. He just gets on with the job. He’s probably the best British driver to come from the junior formulae that I’ve seen for a long time.”

Chris Gorne, Director, Fortec Motorsports, said: “Duncan acquitted himself very well to World Series by Renault. As far as Fortec Motorsport’s competitiveness I’m disappointed and feel we haven’t supported Duncan with what he needed.

“It’s our first time with the World Series car at Valencia and with experienced drivers we’ve found that our set-up has needed some redirection and wish we could have given Duncan a better crack at it. Duncan’s talent is unquestionable. I don’t think he’ll have a problem once he adjusts to the physical demands.

“I’m sure if we’d been able to give him something better he’d be much higher up the finishing order.”