Adrian Quaife-Hobbs – My first season in Formula Renault
My first season in Formula Renault, undoubtedly the most competitive single-seater series in the world and my first year of European competition, has been a tremendous learning curve. I contested the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship and Italia Cup and right from the start I was right on the pace of the front runners, many of whom were far more experienced than myself.
The Italia Cup opening rounds were my first event of the year and in race two I took second place which was a great result after the disappointment of an oil pump problem in race one. This showed immediately that the pace was there which set me up well for the opening Eurocup rounds the following month.
With more than 48 cars entered for the ultra-competitive series which attracts the cream of young up and coming drivers, the first rounds at Spa started well and I was consistently the quickest of the team and regularly in the top six in testing. Despite being forced out of the races, I think I’d established myself as a front runner, and when the next rounds of the Italia Cup came up, I was able to repeat the performance with two top six finishes to move into fifth in the series.
A fortnight later, I took a double podium at Brno which put me third in the standings and another fourth and fifth place in the next rounds at Spa narrowly missing out on another podium finish.
When the Eurocup resumed after a lengthy break, with my only ‘home’ event, at Silverstone, I had high hopes of a return to the podium. Unfortunately we had some problems during qualifying as the team had made some significant changes to the car and a shortage of time didn’t allow me to recoup the disadvantage. But I steadily improved by more than seven tenths and was able to pick up my first points in only my second outing.
I struggled with mechanical upset in the next rounds in Hungary but bounced back to form in the next rounds of the Italia Cup at Misano with sixth place, again out-performing all of my team-mates. In the next rounds at Le Mans I was hit by another driver in the first race and when the team repaired the car, they found the chassis to be cracked.
Of course there’s no way of knowing whether it was in that accident or had been as the result of an earlier problem, but with a new chassis prior to our return to the Italia Cup, I regained the form of earlier in the season and was able to put the car on the front row and pick up my first Formula Renault victory. This put me back into third in the battle for the title and in contention for the runner-up spot.
The penultimate rounds of the Eurocup had 54 cars entered but right from the start, I was regularly posting the quickest time in my group but sadly I wasn’t able to get the results due a suspension problem. In the final rounds of the Italia Cup I really pushed hard to try and get the runner-up spot but a fuel system problem and then a broken driveshaft ended those hopes and pushed me back to fourth.
Despite that, I was happy with my Italia Cup season and I think I showed pace right the way through the year so was looking forward to the final round of the Eurocup in Barcelona. Things started well with a fifth place start for the opening race and going into the first corner I was lying second and battling for the lead before the leader braked early and I ran into the back of him, my race over.
But racing against the best in Europe was a great experience and in race two, my laps times were only a few tenths off the race winner and eventual champion.
My final race of the year was with the team with which I’ll contest this year’s Eurocup and North European Cup, Motopark Racing Academy. The team is reigning champion in both championships and in the race, at Estoril, I took third place and fastest lap which certainly bodes well for this year.
Since the end of the racing season we’ve undergone many successful tests including four days at Valencia and Barcelona and been consistently the quickest. I’ve already established a good relationship with everyone in the team and I’m really looking forward to getting the season underway.
I’m sure there will be a lot of older, more experienced drivers out there and the competition will be fierce. But, with the technical knowledge of Motopark and the team’s experience in both Eurocup and North European Cup, and the improvements I know I’ve made in my first year, I’m confident of immediately being up at the front and bidding for championship glory.
Yours Adrian