Smith finishes fourth in Spa

29 August 2010

Dean Smith fought back from a difficult qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps circuit this weekend, to leave the Belgian circuit with a sixth and fourth place finish. The current Formula Renault 2.0 UK champion was classified sixth in yesterday's race after several drivers were handed post race penalties. Starting from third on the grid this morning, Smith finished fourth collecting another three points to add to his tally. António Félix da Costa finished 12th, while Josef Newgarden managed to cross the line 21st despite making two pit stops.

Although Smith was classified in 9th place in race one yesterday, he was later classified sixth, after Esteban Gutierez, Pal Varhaug and Leonardo Cordeiro were penalised for overtaking under the safety car. That put Smith third on the grid in this morning's reverse grid race, while team mates da Costa and Newgarden lined up in 19th and 25th respectively.

As the lights went out, Smith made a lightning start from his third placed grid slot, passing Pedro Nunes off the line to take second. The McLaren Autosport BRDC winner continued his charge, passing Nico Muller with a good run through Eau Rouge to take the lead. From there the Carlin man opened up nearly a two second gap, but once again the unpredictable Spa weather played its part as the rain started to fall. As the first man to test the grip at each damp corner, Smith slowed, which allowed Muller to take back the lead.

Josef Newgarden meanwhile saw his run of bad luck continue at Spa, as a train of cars bunched up and in the concertina effect that followed, the American made contact with another car and was forced to pit for a new front wing on lap two. Team mate da Costa had a near miss in the early stages; the Portuguese racer suffered a spin early on, but managed to recover.

As the rain continued to fall, several drivers made the gamble to pit early for wet tyres. At the front, Smith and Muller pitted at the same time, with the Carlin mechanics sending Smith back out on track ahead of Muller. Rejoining the racing action, Smith was now fourth with Alexander Rossi and Miki Monras ahead of him, who had stopped a lap earlier. Leading the race was Adrian Tambay, who having stayed out on slicks, had to defend heavily from Rossi, Monras and Smith in the increasingly wet conditions. At the chequered flag, Smith was fourth, just 2.7 seconds behind the leader. Da Costa crossed the line 12th, with Newgarden 21st. Smith's fourth place elevates him to fifth in the drivers' standings.

Reflecting on his race, Smith said, "I had a good start and got into the lead. About two laps into the race it started raining so we stopped and made up a place on track. I struggled at first on the wet tyres, but towards the end of the race they really started working well and we were catching the leader really quickly. I think if we'd had a couple more laps it could have really worked and we could have got on the podium, but I'm still happy to have taken two points paying finishes this weekend."