Formula BMW UK Championship - Rounds 19 & 20 - Donington - Races

Tim Takes The Title.

Donington. Tim Bridgman is on top of the world tonight having claimed the first
ever Formula BMW UK Championship. The privateer did it in perfect style by
winning the final race of the 2004 series. In the Rookie Cup it was Ross Curnow
(Panther Motorsport) who claimed this title while the team prize went to Carlin
Motorsport.

It was also a good day for Matt Howson as he won race one for Team SWR Pioneer
and became the tenth different driver to win a round of the championship. Dean
Smith (Soper Sport) took the Rookie win in the first race while Matt was joined
on the podium for this race by Tim in second and Stian Sørlie (Fortec
Motorsport) in third. For race two Tim was joined on the podium by Joao Urbano
(Carlin Motorsport) and Ross Curnow.

Tim won the title by 19.5 points from Philip Glew (Soper Sport) although he
went into the second Donington race just 1.5 points ahead. Josh Fisher
(Motaworld - Quantexe Racing) was fighting with Joao Urbano for third in the
series and clinched this position thanks to fifth in race two. Second in the
Rookie cup was Sam Bird (Carlin Motorsport) while three wins in the last four
races assured Dean Smith (Soper Sport) of third.

Motor Sport Manager BMW GB, Peter Walker, commented after the weekend: "We
could not have asked for more from a championship in its inaugural year. The
racing has been great. We have had ten different winners and the fact the title
race went down to the wire shows just how competitive the series has been. On
behalf of BMW GB I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the series."

A delighted Tim said after the races: "It was great to clinch the title with a
win. I had decided this weekend I just had to drive the races and not think
about the championship. If you keep looking in your mirrors you just keep going
backwards. The car was great. It was a really good car and just exactly how I
wanted it."

Ross Curnow, took it easy in race one to make sure the championship was his
then went for it in race two. "For me this was a brilliant result from a
brilliant weekend. I will now come back in 2005 with another scholarship and I
want to do what Tim has done and win the title. Panther have done a superb job
for me so I am planning to be with them again," he said.

Matt Howson was delighted with his first win and said: "I knew if I had the
lead through Redgate I would be in very good shape. I tried to relax into a
rhythm, but went off at McLeans. However, after that I really did relax and it
was the perfect way to finish the season."

In race one Matt Howson made the best use of pole position to lead the pack and
keep clear of any championship battles going on behind him. Philip Glew got an
excellent start and by the end of lap one was right behind Tim Bridgman.
However, he then made a mistake and let Stian Sørlie by on lap three. While
Matt pulled out a big lead, the action was going on much further down the field
with a battle between Josh Fisher, Dean Smith, James Sutton and Sam Bird. This
ended when James went off and cut his left hand so badly he had to go to the
medical centre. Oliver Turvey had his own incident earlier on in the race,
which damaged his bodywork and also dislocated his shoulder, which made the
rest of his race uncomfortable. The Team Virgin Mobile Barwell drivers had a
good race with Matt Harris moving up from 16th to tenth and Ollie Smith
finishing fifth, while Dean Smith decided not to try a move on Josh Fisher at
the end of the race as he did not want to risk his Rookie win, although a
steady race by Ross Curnow made sure he took the title before the start of race
two.

In race two the outcome of the championship was more or less decided as the
cars went into the first corner as Philip Glew spun and dropped down the order
and out of the points paying positions. Tim got a fairly reasonable start and
by the end of the lap was leading with Joao Urbano, who got a great start from
sixth, second. From then on Tim just drove away and managed to keep the
Portuguese driver at bay. Philip clawed his way up the field to finish ninth,
but needed Tim to have a disaster to still take the title. There was some great
racing for positions between Oliver Turvey, Jack Goldstraw and James Sutton,
but a deranged rear wing dropped James down the order and Oliver got the best
of this. For the second race running Jordan Wise went off, this time after an
incident with Christian Bakkerud. Bruno Senna was not able to make the most of
a front row position and an off into the gravel on lap one meant he was
relegated to last.

Rounds 19 and 20 will be at Donington on the 26th September.

Results
Race 1:
1. Matt Howson (GB) Team SWR Pioneer 17m 02.954s
2. Tim Bridgman (GB) Driver 17m 03.357s
3. Stian Sørlie (NOR) Fortec Motorsport 17m 05.168s
4. Philip Glew (GB) Soper Sport 17m 09.414s
5. Ollie Smith (GB) Team Virgin Mobile Barwell 17m 14.830s
6. Bruno Senna (BR) Carlin Motorsport 17m 15.096s
7. Josh Fisher (GB) Motaworld - Quantexe Racing 18m 20.471s
8. Dean Smith (GB) Soper Sport (R) 18m 20.798s
9. Duarte Felix da Costa (POR) Team Portugal 18m 26.224s
10. Matt Harris (GB) Team Virgin Mobile Barwell 18m 26.592s
11. Sam Bird (GB) Carlin Motorsport (R) 18m 33.277s
12. Ross Curnow (GB) Panther Motorsport (R) 18m 33.570s
13. Ry Leon (GB) Motaworld - Quantexe Racing 18m 36.160s
14. Jack Goldstraw (GB) Panther Motorsport (R) 18m 42.323s
15. Joao Urbano (POR) Carlin Motorsport - Team Portugal 18m 45.598s
16. Steve Roberts (GB) Team Virgin Mobile Barwell 18m 53.965s
17. Oliver Turvey (GB) Team SWR Pioneer 13 laps

Not classified:
Christian Bakkerud (DEN) Carlin Motorsport 14 laps
Jordan Wise (GB) Soper Sport (R) 9 laps
James Sutton (GB) Fortec Motorsport 9 laps
Simon Walker-Hansell (GB) Panther Motorsport 6 laps
Peter Dempsey (IRE) Team SWR Pioneer 4 laps

Fastest Lap:Matt Howson (Team SWR Pioneer) 1m 10.827s
Pole Position: Matt Howson (Team SWR Pioneer) 1m 10.347s

Race 2:
1. Tim Bridgman (GB) Driver 18m 02.008s
2. Joao Urbano (POR) Carlin Motorsport - Team Portugal 18m 02.726s
3. Ross Curnow (GB) Panther Motorsport (R) 18m 11.214s
4. Stian Sørlie (NOR) Fortec Motorsport 18m 14.479s
5. Josh Fisher (GB) Motaworld - Quantexe Racing 18m 16.703s
6. Dean Smith (GB) Soper Sport (R) 18m 17.127s
7. Oliver Turvey (GB) Team SWR Pioneer 18m 25.550s
8. Jack Goldstraw (GB) Panther Motorsport (R) 18m 26.498s
9. Philip Glew (GB) Soper Sport 18m 26.828s
10. Matt Harris (GB) Team Virgin Mobile Barwell 18m 28.006s
11. Ollie Smith (GB) Team Virgin Mobile Barwell 18m 28.354s
12. James Sutton (GB) Fortec Motorsport 18m 33.685s
13. Steve Roberts (GB) Team Virgin Mobile Barwell 18m 36.594s
14. Ry Leon (GB) Motaworld - Quantexe Racing 18m 39.049s
15. Sam Bird (GB) Carlin Motorsport (R) 18m 39.468s
16. Bruno Senna (BR) Carlin Motorsport 19m 05.053s

Not classified:
Matt Howson (GB) Team SWR Pioneer 6 laps
Duarte Felix da Costa (POR) Carlin Motorsport Team Portugal 3 laps
Christian Bakkerud (DEN) Carlin Motorsport 1 lap
Jordan Wise (GB) Soper Sport (R) 1 lap
Simon Walker-Hansell (GB) Panther Motorsport 1 lap

Non Starter:
Peter Dempsey (IRE) Team SWR Pioneer

Fastest Lap: Joao Urbano (Carlin Motorsport) 1m 10.874s
Pole Position: Matt Howson (Team SWR Pioneer) 1m 12.279s

Championship Points Tables:
Drivers: 1. Bridgman (3 wins) 230 points, 2. Glew (2 wins) 210.5, 3. Fisher (3
wins) 180, 4. Urbano (3 wins) 173.5, 5.Sutton (2 wins) 136, 6. Sørlie (1 win)
133, 7, Turvey (1win) 83, 8. Curnow (1 win) 70, 9. Walker-Hansell (2 wins) 63.
10. Smith O 62, 11. Bakkerud 61, 12. Howson (1 win) 49, 13. Felix da Costa 32,
14. Bird 23, 15. Goldstraw 16.5, 16. Smith D 15, 17. Edwards 11, 18. Harris
11,19. Fleming 8, 20. Wise 6, 21. Dempsey 3, 22. Vilhena 2, 23. Leon 1.

Rookies: 1. Curnow (11 wins) 280, 2. Bird (3 wins) 239, 3. Smith D (3 wins)
211, 4. Goldstraw (1 win) 196.5 , 5. Wise 182, 6. Vilenha 101.

Teams: 1.Carlin Motorsport 273.5, 2. Fortec Motorsport 269, 3. Soper Sport
229.5, 4. Motaworld - Quantexe Racing 181, 5. Team SWR Pioneer 146, 6. Panther
Motorsport 143.5, 7. Team Virgin Mobile Barwell 82.