McIntosh returning to happy hunting ground

Courtesy Stuart Morrison Public Relations

Montreal, Canada (September 05, 2006) – The World Series by Renault leaves mainland Europe and crosses the English Channel as Donington Park in England hosts Round 7 of the nine-round championship this weekend, 9th-10th September. Currently sitting seventh overall in the Driver Standings, Canada’s Sean McIntosh has long been waiting for the arrival of the British round of the series as he lists the track at Donington Park as a firm favorite.

First sampling the Derbyshire circuit in 2004, his rookie season competing in the Formula Renault UK Championship, McIntosh clinched the Graduate Cup Championship for first year drivers in the series at Donington courtesy of back-to-back podium finishes which placed him sixth overall in the end of year Driver Standings.

The 21-year-old from Vancouver returned for a crack at the Formula Renault UK Championship last season with Donington hosting the opening double-header last April. Rubber stamping the track as one of his favorites in the UK, Sean kicked off the season with a dominant victory in the second round. McIntosh duly went on to take the 2005 title fight all the way to wire, his tally of five wins a season-high shared only with eventual Champion Oliver Jarvis, the Brit narrowly taking the title ahead of McIntosh in second.

Sean’s current form in the 2006 World Series by Renault, including a fine second place podium finish at Spa in July, means he expects nothing less than a challenge at the head of the pack this weekend at Donington. Previewing his return to the track he commented:

“It’s been over a year since I last raced at Donington and I’m pretty keen to get back there. I had success there when I raced in British Formula Renault and it’s the first track we’ve been to this season where I’ve actually competed before. It’s a challenging circuit, it’s not like Turkey where it was really wide open, it’s quite tight and twisty but I enjoy it.

“Qualifying will be very important but I’m looking forward to getting back out onto the Grand Prix circuit having raced on it last season at the same event. I’m expecting to be up there at the sharp end from the beginning of the weekend. I’m taking things one race at a time but there’s still a chance to break into the top-five in the points and that would be a pretty satisfying end to my rookie season in the World Series by Renault.”

Race 1 (21 Laps) from Donington Park is set to get underway on Saturday, 9th September, at 3:10pm GMT with Race 2 (29 Laps) held on Sunday, 10th September, at 1pm GMT.