29th April 2019
Louis Foster delivered a driving masterclass at Donington Park at the weekend as the Double R racer picked up double pole position in qualifying, before going on to secure two wins, a further podium in the reverse grid and two fastest laps to depart the circuit seventeen points ahead in the championship standings.
Heading to Donington Park to contest the second round of the season, Louis was confident to build on his rapid start to life in single-seaters that saw the youngster pick up a victory in his first race weekend at Brands Hatch and he arrived in Donington Park looking to continue his fine start to the year.
In the week’s test session on Thursday, Louis displayed the pace of his Double R car in both dry and wet conditions and finished the day top of the timesheets in the combined classification.
Louis then continued to showcase his talent behind the wheel as the action rolled into Saturday. In a wet and windy qualifying at Donington Park, the Copart Limited UK sponsored driver dominated the twenty-minute session and secured his maiden pole position by more than four-tenths to his Double R teammate.
Louis’ dominance was clear to see as he also secured pole position for the third race of the weekend with his second fastest time and put him in a commanding position heading into the weekend’s races.
Race One
Getting off the line well, Louis defended the lead of the race from his team-mate, Sebastian Alvarez, but the pair continued to battle through the opening lap of the race. With the two drivers duelling, this allowed the trailing cars to profit from the battle and heading into turn one on lap two, there was a four-wide battle for the lead.
Louis was the biggest loser in this fight and was relegated to fourth behind Skelton, Alvarez and Zane Maloney. Staying in the fight, Louis was able to move in second place after Maloney and Alvarez came to blows at Redgate and began to hunt down Skelton for the lead of the race.
With a 2.3-second deficit to Skelton, Louis was cutting the advantage lap after lap and it wasn’t long before Louis was on the tail of the race leader. Louis then breezed past Skelton with under five minutes of the clock and stretched his lead to take the chequered flag almost a second clear.
“It was a crazy start to the race, Seb and I had a good battle on the opening lap but that allowed everyone to join in the fight!” explained Foster.
“There was four of us side by side for the lead and I couldn’t do anything about it. I couldn’t block, so I just had to stay out of any trouble and make it through the corner. I was annoyed because I went from first to fifth or sixth in one straight but I kept my head up and fought back.
“I got past a few and then Seb (Alvarez) and Zane (Maloney) came together and I was on the hunt for Josh (Skelton), and I knew I had the pace to get past so just pushed hard and caught him in the end. I’m over the moon with the result and hope to keep the momentum rolling!”
Race Two
Starting the reverse grid race from sixth place after his victory in race one, Louis got off the line well but the race was quickly stopped after Faria went off-track and into the barriers at Hollywood, bringing out the first of two red-flag stoppages.
When the race restarted, Louis was one position better off as he got the race underway from fifth place. Showcasing the speed underneath him, Louis passed Connor for fourth place after a thrilling battle and was just one position out of the podium places as the race drew closer to its conclusion.
With just two laps remaining, Williams, who was running in third place, had an off-track excursion that subsequently promoted Louis to third place. The race was eventually ended under the red flag due to the incident and the Vansdirect-sponsored youngster took his second podium finish of the weekend.
“It was a good race, with some fun battles out on track.” said Louis.
“The reverse grid race is always difficult but we made the most of the opportunities to score some strong points and get on the podium. We have now finished on the podium in two of the three races here at Donington, so the aim for the final race is to continue the success!”
Race Three
For the third and final race, televised live on ITV4, Louis got off the line well but it was his teammate, Sebastian Alvarez, who made the better start and took the lead of the race. Louis was then forced to fend off Luke Browning heading into the Old Hairpin to retain his second place.
That race was then paused at the end of the opening lap after Tommy Foster ran out wide into the barrier at the exit of the final corner and the safety car made its appearance whilst the car was recovered.
When the race got back underway with ten minutes left on the clock, Louis and Alvarez had a thrilling battle for the race win, with Louis all over the gearbox of his Double R teammate. As Louis made a fantastic move around the outside of McLeans, Alvarez defended well and this allowed Turney, in third place, to pass the pair to move into the lead at the final chicane.
Louis then followed through to pass Alvarez on the finishing straight and set Louis free to chase down Turney for the race win. The quickest car on track, Louis was back fighting for the lead and finally moved into the lead of the race with a beautiful move before the final chicane.
Starting the final lap, Turney attempted to fight back and tried to get the cut-back at Redgate but Turney misjudged the move, colliding with the back of Louis. Luckily, Louis was able to continue and he took the chequered flag to take his second win of the weekend and extended his lead at the top of the standings to 17 points.
“It’s a fantastic way to end the weekend,” commented Foster.
“Seb got a good start and took the lead but I knew I was quicker than him so kept pushing. We had a great fight but this allowed Turney to come at us and he went through into the lead. I just remainded confident in myself and the car and got past him at the final chicane to take the lead.
“I was lucky he didn’t collect me at turn one on the final lap but I’m absolutely delighted with the weekend and these results. After winning race one, finishing third in race two and now winning race three, it’s an amazing points haul, and puts us in a strong position heading to Thruxton.”
Championship leader Louis returns to action in round three of the season at Thruxton Circuit in three week’s time (18 – 19 May).
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