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Miguel sails up the grid
Portuguese racing driver Miguel
Pinto Coehlo put the disappointment
of not making qualifying to
the back of his mind as he drove
from 25th on the grid to finish
an astonishing 5th place in
monsoon conditions at Snetterton
near Norwich last weekend. Miguel,
making his debut in the Absolute
Racing run Van Diemen RF06 in
the final round of the 750mc
British Formula Four Championship
had tested the car at Mallory
Park and Snetterton over the
last couple of weeks in preparation
for the race, but nothing could
have prepared him for the weather
he experienced during the race.
Miguel, from Lisbon, relentlessly
went about his task from the
green light and managed to gain
10 places on the first lap as
drivers got to grips with the
tricky conditions. By lap 10
of the shortened race he was
on catching 4th place by over
4 seconds a lap. If the race
was over the expected 18 minutes
then Miguel could have gained
an amazing podium from the back
of the grid.
Miguel said " The car was great
and it allowed me to attack
the corners where most people
were being cautious. The team
had put a full wet set up on
the car with lots of wing which
was great for the corners but
not so great for the rivett
straight as I was losing a bit
of time down there but overall
it was very good"
Team Manager Chris Hodgen said
"It was a great performance
when you consider that it was
his first race for a while and
coming from Portugal I am not
sure if he gets to race in the
wet much!! But he drove well
in very bad conditions. Imagine
what he could have done if he
manages to qualify!!"
Miguel is now looking for sponsors
to back his campaign to win
the title with Absolute Racing
in 2007.
The team would like to thank
Louropel, one of the leading
button manufacturers in the
world for sponsoring Miguel
for the race - www.louropel.pt
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