Calado's commitment pays off at Thruxton

8:00am Wednesday 21st May 2008

JAMES Calado had the result his early season form has merited during round seven of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship.

The 18-year-old from Crop-thorne, who races for Fortec Motorsport and is backed by the Racing Steps Foundation, finished third at Thruxton last Sunday when recording the first podium of his car racing career.

“I’ve made big improvements here since the test and even over this weekend, which is always important,”

James Calado

He followed it up by finishing ninth in round eight later in the day despite almost being involved in a 140mph accident.

Calado produced a fantastic qualifying performance on Saturday that saw him line up second and fourth on the grid for each race.

The start of round seven saw him drop back to fourth before slotting in behind teammate Riki Christodoulou in third.

Calado set the fastest lap to that point on lap four to close the gap on Christodoulou but Dean Stoneman fought back to put the pressure on and, as he defended it, the leaders pulled away.

In the second half of the 16-lap race, the Vale racer's pace proved too strong for Stoneman who fell away, leaving him free to concentrate on catching the leaders.

Although he made up ground in the closing stages, he fell 1.8 seconds short but still earned the THB Clowes Driver of the Day award for his fine effort and podium finish.

"I've made big improvements here since the test and even over this weekend, which is always important," Calado recalled.

"It was a shame about my start in race one because the speed was there to challenge Adam and Riki but I had to defend from Dean early on.

"In the second race I had a huge scare in the incident and I'm not 100 per cent sure how it happened as I was just trying to defend the position.."

Rounds nine and ten of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship take place at North Yorkshire's Croft circuit on May 31, June 1 1.

One week later the championship will see its highest crowd of the season at the UK round of the World Series by Renault at Silverstone.

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