Race 1: Qualified 21st, Finished 11th
Race 2: Qualified 17th, Finished 20th

Duncan Tappy had his second Formula Renault outing at Oulton Park in Cheshire this weekend. Overall Duncan, 21, from West Ewell in Surrey, came away frustrated but had actually notched up his highest Formula Renault race finish. Throughout the weekend rain was giving Duncan his first experience of Oulton Park in the wet.

With only one previous visit to the track and one previous Formula Renault race weekend he was on an uphill battle to gain confidence in the car and consequently he struggled to find a set-up that he was happy with.

It was only in the first race that he felt as though he was making progress and he demonstrated his level-headed driving as experienced front-runners had spins and collisions in the rain. Duncan finished 11th – his best result in his new series. The conditions changed for race two to a dry track with wet patches and once again Duncan didn’t feel that he was on top of his game.

He said: “I’m still learning and I struggled in qualifying especially with the wet tyres. The second session was drier and it was very disappointing that it was no better. I just didn’t feel confident in the car with finding the limits. It was only in the first race that I got to grips with it.

“For race one I got a good start and avoided the carnage at the first corner. I found some of that confidence that I’d been missing and felt comfortable with the car and overtook quite a few drivers.

“With the places that I gained to those crashing out and by overtaking four or five cars I got up to eleventh. I got a jump on Richard Keen on the restart over the line so made tenth but then Daniel Roos managed to outbrake me into the hairpin putting me back to eleventh.

“Race two was just disappointing. The track didn’t seem to have much grip and then I ran wide at Cascades. Things evened out and then braking into Knickerbrook I got loads of understeer and from then the car handling didn’t get any better. On top of that I got what felt like a fuel surge and I lost places with that too.

“I’m making progress even though it feels soul destroying. Looking for positives I’ve learnt more about the car and the track in the wet and on top of that have improved my best finishing position.”

•   Filed under: Formula Renault UK
•   Tagged as: Oulton Park