Clarke: "I want to challenge for wins in 2010"
Briton buoyed by points finish at Oschersleben
Jack Clarke returned to the points at Oschersleben last weekend
(4/5/6 September) after an impressive performance in F2's
round of Germany.
In race one, the 21-year-old was able to survive the eight
car pile-up on the opening lap relatively unscathed. He
went on to take his second points finish of the season with an
impressive seventh place as the Briton held off a charging Robert
Wickens at the finish.
"I had a good view of the incident on the first lap," said
Clarke. "It was a domino effect at the tight first corner - I
made contact with the rear of Hohenthal's car, but we luckily
picked our way through. I was pretty happy to find myself in fifth
by turn two! I made some mistakes at the restart and maybe I let
Aleshin through too easily, but my pace was good at the end of the
race. I was able to hold off Wickens, which was nice - it was a
good result."
Clarke failed to finish in race two after being caught up with
Philipp Eng on the first lap - the contact leading to a spectacular
barrel roll for his Austrian rival. "I got a decent start in race
two as well," commented Jack. "I don't think Philipp saw me and he
just moved over to the right. We touched wheels and I just saw
Philipp fly into the air. My race was also over with a bent
wishbone, but I was just pleased to see he was ok."
As Jack focuses on the next round at Imola, the young Englishman
recognises the need to improve further in qualifying. "My race
pace has been good enough for top ten finishes for the last three
or four rounds," he said, "but I need to improve in
qualifying in order to consistently challenge for points.
"I am still struggling a little with the new tyres, but I am
constantly improving. It is about finding the limits on new rubber
during qualifying and some of the more experienced drivers
seem to be able to do this right away. People like Soucek
and Wickens will sometimes set their fastest time on their
first flying lap on new tyres while I may set mine on my fifth,
sixth or seventh lap. I am getting there and I was only three
tenths away from starting sixth in Germany."
Having produced improved form in recent weeks, Jack is keen to
set his sights higher for the remainder of the season, before
targeting his maiden win and a championship challenge in 2010. "Top
ten in the standings will be a pretty big ask this season, but I am
certainly looking at rising up the table," commented
Clarke. "I just hope to be consistent and hopefully better my
best result so far. I had to benchmark myself against the other
Formula Palmer Audi graduates during the early part of the
season, but I am happy to be ahead of those guys for now. I mean no
disrespect to them, but now I can raise my benchmark and focus on
some of the drivers at the front of the field.
"I would love to be back in F2 next year," concluded
Clarke. "It was always going to be a two year programme for
me - I want to challenge for wins and podiums
in 2010. Hopefully I can have a good go at trying
to win the title in my second season - that would be
fantastic."