News... First season ends at Thruxton! 12th October 2009 To bring the 2009 season to a close, in a maiden year that has passed incredibly quickly, David took part in the final two races at the high-speed Thruxton circuit in Hampshire. With no previous experience of the track, David's first time on the daunting circuit was in qualifying, where he took his time and settled in to the point where he was comfortable with what he needed to do. "We were last on the time-sheet for the first four laps," he said, "out of the 19 drivers taking part," but that was to be expected until his experience of the circuit improved, but his progress was rapid when he did. "By lap 5 we were 16th, lap 6 14th, lap 10 12th, and by the last lap I was up to 11th - we just needed a few more laps. Not bad for first time on track. "The first race was at 1pm and the Heavens opened at 12.45pm," just as the pack of BARC Formula Renaults were getting ready for the start. "We had never run in the wet, either in testing or racing, and it was only at one of the Palmer Audi tests at the end of 2008, where I had taken part in any wet weather sessions in single-seaters." This was truly a baptism by fire and not ideal at a track like Thruxton. David looked tense on the grid, but AVAGO team boss Sutton Snr was up for the confidence booster. "I just reminded him how good he was in karting in the wet. His start was poor because he was held up by a slow starting driver, which meant he came round in 14th place at the end of the first lap. He then pulled off some awesome overtaking moves and climbed his way up to 7th position, when one of the Hillspeed drivers out-braked himself, crashing in to us. This damaged the under-tray, which cost David a lot of down-force, but he still managed to finish in 8th place."  Conditions for the second race though could only be described as truly horrific, although with his confidence growing, David was up to 10th place by the end of the opening lap. By the end of the race in what was a commendable drive, David stayed on the circuit, passed two other wayward runners, to finish in another excellent 8th place overall." An interview with David will follow shortly covering his experiences during the 2009 season.