Wells Positive Ahead Of Silverstone Finale
Dan Wells equaled his best performance of the season at Brands Hatch last weekend in the CERTINA Formula Renault UK Championship, and believes he can do more at Silverstone.
The Wiltshire youngster celebrated a career best double qualifying at the Kent circuit, and followed it up with a career best finish of fourth after fighting for the podium.
Wells enjoyed a productive Friday test where he was running in the top half of the field on old tyres. Qualifying started on Saturday morning and the 20-year-old once again came into his own, putting his Atech Reid GP car on the third row of the grid for both sessions.
“I was very pleased with how qualifying went, we were very strong in sectors 1 and 3 but couldn’t quite get it hooked up for the second sector, but even so, to qualify consistently in 5th for both races shows that we are making good progress.”
“In Q2 we had some technical difficulties with the car on the way to the session but the team did a fantastic job and had it all sorted for when I rolled out of pitlane. It’s great for a driver when you know you have a team who can deal with anything thrown at them, which allows me to focus on my job 100%”.
From fifth in race one; he had a trademark blistering start until he was driven towards the pitwall by the defending driver, forcing him to back out of the throttle and lose two positions on the run to Paddock Hill.
“The start was lit off the line once again but I was forced to back out of it when the driver in front drove straight for the pit wall, which lost me the chance to break away at the front with the leading trio.
“I managed to get a place back a lap later and was pushing Cammish all the way through the race. We were quicker and I was really pushing hard to overtake but unfortunately I lost downforce behind him at Stirlings and went on the grass slightly, causing a spin which left me down in 11th instead of 6th. I was very disappointed with myself but I’m learning.”
Another 5th place start for Dan in race two allowed him a second chance to fight for the podium.
“I get very good starts every time – but I must say Lynn’s in race two was the quickest I’ve seen! As soon as I saw this I knew I’d be in the fight for the podium. My team mate didn’t have a good start and I was trying to find a way past on the first lap but I couldn’t quite make it. Both Lynn and King then pulled over leaving me chasing Tio.
“I hadn’t been feeling well since Rockingham and I had taken some medication before the race but the high temperatures on Sunday saw me start to feel sick while driving – I tried my hardest to hold on but I ultimately finished 4th.
“It’s a shame because I felt like we had the pace to be on the podium but I have Silverstone to make amends.”
After his strong showing at Brands Hatch, Wells believes he can go to Silverstone confident that he will continue his progress and be fighting at the front once again.
“Silverstone National is a short circuit but I enjoy it a lot. I’m confident we’ll be in the fight for the top step of the podium.”
Mike Trusler
