Sensational Double Points Finish For Rapid Owens At Monza
Raoul Owens was the undoubted star performer during the opening event of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup season at Monza in Italy over the weekend, 12th/13th April – the Briton battling through from uncharacteristic low grid starts into superb top eight and top nine finishes.
Proving he had the clear pace to be a podium contender on his first visit to Monza, the 19-year-old Mark Burdett Motorsport driver’s hopes of silverware were dashed during the build-up to the first two races of the year with an ongoing problem in practice – ultimately identified as a faulty throttle sensor – resulting in zero track time.
Having a knock-on effect into qualifying, with precious little set-up work having been completed, the Pembury-born racer had to settle for 20th position on the grid for each of the weekend’s encounters but his performances in race conditions were nothing short of sensational.
With top 10 results looking unlikely at best, Raoul served up a true masterclass in overtaking and delivered some textbook moves to end the weekend on an extremely positive note – departing the Italian track sixth in the championship standings.
Making a terrific start to round one on Saturday afternoon, Raoul avoided contact at the notorious Rettifilo Chicane and neatly threaded his way through. Picking off a number of drivers, the second year NEC racer scythed his way into 11th place by the end of a remarkable opening lap.
Running close behind compatriot Ben Barnicoat for the next few laps, Raoul produced a great pass on the fifth tour to move ahead of the McLaren F1 Team-supported driver before starting to apply pressure to the cars ahead.
Grabbing ninth place into the Parabolica at two thirds race distance, and then eighth soon after, the Bright Spark Ventures-backed driver capped a stunning drive with a fastest lap just 0.3 seconds shy of the best of the race.
“It was tough from the start with the problems in practice, it meant we had set-up things to do on the car so it wasn’t as we wanted in qualifying”, explained Raoul, “In the first race I just kept out of trouble, took advantage of any opportunities and had to keep aware. To come through from 20th on the grid into the top eight was good damage limitation.”
As if his round one performance wasn’t headline-grabbing enough, Raoul was even more impressive in round two on Sunday morning with an electrifying drive into the top six. Again making a fantastic getaway, the Kent racer concluded lap one in 15th position and at the start of lap two did well to avoid an incident ahead at the chicane.
Profiting from the chaos to climb into the top eight, before then moving into seventh on lap three, Raoul managed to break away from his pursuers at mid-distance and completed his tremendous drive by moving into the top six on lap nine. Post-race, though, he was handed a five second time penalty after officials adjudged he gained an advantage straight-lining the chicane.
“On the second lap there were about five of us spread out across the track running down to the first corner, it was pretty mad, so you had to be very aware of what was going on around you”, reflected Raoul on round two, “Any gaps that appeared, I just tried to take advantage of and kept it clean.
“We had a good car in the end, Sunday’s race was a lot cooler than Saturday so the set-up wasn’t quite where we needed it but I was still able to come through again. I think coming from so far back into good points positions was good going, especially with a lot of the guys ahead of me coming from Eurocup [Formula Renault 2.0] as well. We definitely pulled it back.”
Raoul will return to home soil for rounds three and four of the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC season which will take place at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit, as support again to the Blancpain Endurance Series, on 24th/25th May.
