ASSEN RACE 2 – SOLID DRIVE UNDONE BY FAULTY RADIO
An unwelcome first saw Matty end his Formula Renault 2.0 NEC meeting at Assen on a low note as, he was disqualified from the race result for the first time in his career after failing to serve a drive through penalty for a rule infringement relating to yellow flags.
The 18 year old was guilty of improving his sector time in a yellow flag zone and was handed the initial drive through penalty by the race director however, a faulty radio and poorly positioned pit board, meant the team were unable to call him in to serve his punishment before the end of the race, resulting in the disqualification.
It was an ignominious end to a decent race performance that saw Matty once again deliver a composed drive in an intense afternoon.
Lining up tenth on the grid in front of a crowd of 70,000 fans, a second sluggish start of the weekend resulted in a loss of position to 11th placed Martin Kodric however Matty was able to keep pace with the Croatian and was able to re-pass him on the second lap to regain tenth place.
Settling into his race and lapping consistently, the North Eastern driver found himself in a relatively comfortable position, half a second back from the car in front and half a second ahead of his nearest pursuer and by the end of lap three was up to eighth following the retirement of Ben Barnicoat and Alexander Albon.
With the baking hot air and track temperatures conspiring with the proximity to the other cars making the handling of the car tricky. Matty decided to settle to simply run to the end rather than risk a non-scoring finish.
His cautiousness however did not account for the slight improvement in lap time under the yellow flag at the end of lap 10 and in the end, Matty had nothing to show for a solid afternoon’s work.
Matty is next in action in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC at the end of August in the Czech Republic at the Most Autodrom.