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Lawson still in charge with brace of Knockhill podiums


North Yorkshire saloon car star Robert Lawson maintained his position at the head of the SEAT Cupra Championship driver standings at Knockhill in Scotland today, Sunday, 17th August, after adding two more podium finishes to his superb season’s tally.

Finishing in second place during rounds 15 and 16, the racer from Barton near Richmond now leads reigning champion Jonathan Adam by 14 points with just four races remaining on the 2008 calendar.

Having lapped quicker than Adam during Friday’s test session at the Fife track, hopes were high for a potential pole position performance in qualifying. At the wheel of his Bardon Aggregates and Bardon Concrete sponsored car, Robert came very close to achieving his aim, qualifying second on the grid for each encounter.

His best lap during the round 15 session was 54.108 seconds (84.58mph), just seven 100ths of a second shy of pole position, while in round 16 qualifying he produced a time of 54.410 seconds (84.11mph).

At the start of the weekend’s first race, the JHR Developments ace lost out to Daniel Welch off the line which seriously hampered his hopes of staying on terms with pole-sitter and race leader Adam.

Clearly quicker than Welch, Robert managed to find a way past on lap nine after applying huge pressure to his rival and forcing him into a mistake. From that point on, the first year SEAT racer remained in second position until the chequered flag on lap 22.

Round 16 saw Robert make a much better getaway from the front row and although he had to tuck in behind Adam into SEAT Curves for the first time, he was able to remain on terms with the home-town Scottish driver throughout the 25 lap race.

Although he couldn’t quite get close enough to Adam to make a concerted attempt to try and pass, Robert’s second runner-up spot of the weekend provided very welcome points towards his championship challenge. He ended the race just 4.5 seconds behind Adam but some 10 seconds ahead of third placed Carl Breeze.

Speaking on the weekend’s action, which marked his first ever run in a SEAT Cupra at Knockhill, Robert said: “It’s getting a little bit too close for comfort to be fair in terms of the championship but, at the same time, we have two race meetings left and Jonathan was always going to be quick here – it’s his home circuit and he works here too.

“Out of all of the circuits we visit, this is possibly the one I lack most knowledge of so to finish second in both races isn’t too bad at all. I would have liked to have been able to fight for the wins but it wasn’t to be. The main thing is that we did the best we could and still lead the championship.

“The team did a fantastic job with the car, they worked wonders this weekend but we just didn’t quite have the pace in the races. We were still in touch in the second one though so that was better. Big thanks must go to Bardon Concrete and Bardon Aggregates for their support as always and for giving me the opportunity to be out here racing.”

The penultimate event of the 2008 SEAT Cupra Championship, rounds 17 and 18, will take place just two weeks from now over the weekend 30th/31st August, at Silverstone National Circuit in Northamptonshire. The finale will then come at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent in mid-September.

“We had a win and a second place at Brands Hatch during the opening round and I like Silverstone a lot, I think it will suit us there”, added Robert, “Things do look positive for us for the final two events where we’ll hopefully be back on the top step of the podium.”

Published: 2008-08-18 00:00:00

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Top 2008 race winners

1Craig Baird32
2Graham Carroll21
Kyle Busch21
4Jack Lemvard19
5Frédéric Vervisch18
Donny Schatz18
7Valtteri Bottas17
8Jan Magnussen16
Nigel Moore16
Carl Edwards16
Earl Bamber16
12Devin Jones15
Toon Rutgers15
Jamie Whincup15
Gabriel Chaves15
16Daniel Ricciardo14
Ivan Utrera14
Philip Morris14
Wayne Boyd14
20Chris Hyde13
This list also includes series that span over the new year (i.e. 2007-08 championships).


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