23/02/2010 - Juno sign the winners book at Yas Marina
Juno had an eventful but ultimately successful debut to their racing in the Middle East. The team overcame a disappointing start to finish with a dominant win in at the incredible Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Juno UK team members, Ewan Baldry and Simon Laughlin flew out to Dubai along with the latest Juno CN2010 sports prototype race car to compete in a series of races in the Gulf Sport Radical Cup. The first two races being held at the Yas Marina F1 circuit over the weekend of the 20th February with two race to follow at the Dubai Autodrome the following weekend. Porsche Cup racer, Tom Bradshaw took the wheel for the Abu Dhabi event. The car demonstrated its potential during the two test sessions, topping the time sheets by nearly a second in each. However, one performance was definitely hindered by severe graining of the front tyres. Having normally raced on a harder compound in the V de V championship, the team elected to take a softer version of their Avon tyres for the sprint races they were to compete in, in the United Arab Emirates. This proved to be a mistake as clearly the tyres aren’t suitable for the conditions. Although there was little that could be done, the team made set up changes in an effort to give the front tyres an easier time and whilst the issue was improved the car was still unable to reach its full potential in qualifying. The car finished in 2nd position, 8/100ths of a second off pole position.
Tension was high for the start of the first race and clearly the Juno team were looking to make a good impression, as the lights went green the cars powered down to the first corner. However 2009 Radical European Champion Bassam Kronfli lost control of his SR3 and smashed straight into the back of Tom and the Juno’s race was over.
The Juno team had a big job in trying to fix the car ready for the start of the second race. Unfortunately, the work wasn’t done in time and the car had to start from the pitlane. It was beginning to look like a weekend to forget. However, Tom moved quickly through the back markers and within 3 laps was within 16 seconds of the leaders. With the race only lasting 20 minutes in total, making up this deficit was a tall order. Tom went quicker and quicker and was able to continue to make up places setting the fastest race lap along the way. Having made it to 3rd, there was then quite a gap to catch the leaders but with Tom lapping at more than two seconds per lap quicker, the race was on. Soon he found himself in 2nd with the leader just a second or so up the road. Having made a better exit as they passed under the Yas Marina bridge, Tom moved alongside the leader only to find himself squeezed dangerously close to the pit wall of the support paddock. As everyones gasped, Tom managed to move past and took the lead. He continued to press on and eventually took the win by over 4 seconds. A stunning performance and a fitting end to a tough few days.
The Juno team would like to extend his thanks to Barry Hope, Martin Hope and the rest of the Gulf Sport team for the help and support during the weekend.
Next week the team move on to Dubai where Juno racer Duncan Williams will take the wheel.
.JPG)
