Curnow seizes back Rookie Championship lead at Mondello Park (15 Jun 04) 

The Formula BMW UK Championship moved offshore to Dublin for the weekend of 12-13^th June. This was always going to prove an intriguing venue since it was the first this year where none of the drivers knew the circuit well. With the more experienced Championship contenders deprived of the advantage of circuit knowledge, therefore, it was going to be interesting to see how the Rookies fared in relation to them. 

In Saturday’s qualifying, it was Ross Curnow (Panther Motorsport) who was quickest Rookie in both sessions. More revealing, however, was the fact that he was 4^th and 5^th overall, the first of these results being the highest qualifying position achieved by a Rookie all year.  Having posted a time 0.2 sec off pole, Curnow was understandably pleased, “I had trouble with traffic but when I got a clear lap, I was fine. My quickest lap in qualifying for Race 2 was the last lap of the session, given a few more laps I felt a better time would have been possible. The team has done a great job with the car – it feels really good”. 

In Race 1, Curnow got a good start and was running 4^th until Norwegian Stian Sorlie got by on Lap 4, towards the end of the race, however, Ross snatched the place back and held it to the finish. His 4^th overall equaled the highest finish position for a Rookie as well as giving him top honours in the Rookie Championship itself. 

Race 2 saw Curnow running 1^st Rookie and 5th overall with main Championship leader Philip Glew shadowing him. With an eye on the critical points position in the Rookie Cup, Ross let Glew by and finished 6^th overall just behind the leading bunch. Having secured his second Rookie Class win of the day, Curnow (pictured far left on the podium) was more than satisfied, “I just did my own race, set my own pace and kept out of what was going on in front of me. It’s been a great weekend.”    

After a disappointing result last time out where he gave up the Rookie Championship lead for the first time to trail Sam Bird by 1 point, Mondello Park saw him put in two immensely mature drives. These re-establish him at the top of the Rookie Championship leaders’ board with 148 points from Sam Bird on 130 and Jordan Wise on 112. 

The Championship now moves to North Yorkshire where the next rounds will be held at Croft on 24^th/25^th July. 

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