Return to Croft for Round 7/8 – Looking back on 2010 “Deergate” !
After his best performance of the season so far at Oulton Park two weeks ago, SWB Motorsport driver Andrew Jarman is looking ahead to Round 7/8 of the 2011 BARC Formula Renault Championship and a circuit which brings back mixed emotions for the Milton Keynes born racer.
Based in the North Yorkshire countryside, the fast 2.1 mile circuit is often a favourite on the calendar for its variety of fast sweeping corners and the slowest hairpin in British Motorsport, often providing fantastic racing.
But it was during a pre race test last season that Andrew discovered one of the most unique features to the circuit and something much unexpected.
It’s not often you expected to get so close to the local wildlife whilst driving at over 120mph, however one sunny day in March 2010 whilst testing at the North Yorkshire circuit, Andrew was just starting his second practice of the day and closely following a number of his fellow competitors who joined the un-official test.
After exiting the chicane after turn 1 and heading down one of the fastest parts of the circuit, a deer suddenly appeared from the hedges lining the circuit as Andrew and several of his competitors approached at over 120mph.
As you will see from the onboard footage, what happened next was one the luckiest escapes of Andrew’s racing career as the Deer decided to jump the circuit, narrowly missing Andrew’s crash helmet by less than a foot as he passed underneath the “flying deer”.
The onboard footage is that of the car behind Andrew : Croft2010Test
Speaking to Andrew about his close encounter:
“I remember at the time coming into the pits and telling my team and they thought I was joking until one of the other teams looked at their onboard footage and could see how close it (the deer) was to hitting me”.
“It was so close I could see its eyes as it jumped over my car, at the time I just thought it was crazy but after seeing the footage I realised just how lucky I was not to hit it”.
“I’ve always enjoyed racing at Croft and that just makes it a little bit more special, I’m looking forward to returning there for the next round and continuing the progress we made with the car at Oulton Park”.
Round 7/8 of the 2011 BARC Formula Renault Championship will take place at Croft Circuit, North Yorkshire on July 23/24th.
