Consolidation exercise for Curnow at Brands (13 Sep 04) 

Brands Hatch was the scene for the next two Formula BMW Championship rounds on Sunday 22nd August with Panther Motorsport arriving fresh from Ross’s outstanding overall victory at Knockhill. 

Testing on the Thursday was to change the picture for Ross, however, when he was launched into the barriers behind the pits by another car. Ross was unhurt but the car suffered extensive damage and needed a complete rebuild prior to official qualifying on the Saturday. Since the car had not turned a wheel, Ross inevitably suffered set up problems in the first session and qualified 17^th overall. After adjustments to the car, he improved in the second session, finishing 10th overall and leading Rookie. 

Starting from the back of the grid, the first race was unspectacular for Ross but he managed to secure points for 4^th Rookie. Race 2 saw him back winning the Rookie class again and finishing 10^th overall. 

Although Ross and his team were disappointed with the weekend, he emerged 7^th in the overall points standing – a spectacular result for a 17 year-old in his first season of single seaters in a very competitive championship. More critical, however, he consolidated his lead by a further 3 points in the Rookie Championship where he is now 46 points clear of Sam Bird. This puts him in a very strong position going into the last 4 races but the team went home well aware of how fragile that could be if he is caught up in another big accident. 

(Photo: MJP Media Images Ltd, www.mjp-media.com)

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