After a season with mixed results in the 2008 Formula BMW Pacific series, finishing 3rd in the rookie championship and 8th overall, 17 year old Filipino racer Marlon Stockinger has decided to join the Formula Renault UK with Michelin championship in 2009 which supports the British Touring Car Championship, as well as one round of the World Series by Renault held at the famous Silverstone circuit. Stockinger signed up with the Silverstone based team Hitech Junior Racing last December after extensive testing in Portugal and Spain where he also contested one leg of the Portuguese Winter series on the Estoril circuit, finishing 10th and 14th respectively and setting the fastest time of the team in the two round event in which 30 drivers participated. „I learned a lot in my first season in Formula BMW“ says Stockinger. „I had some good races and a podium in Sepang, but I need a lot more experience and seat time. BMW was a very exciting series, following all the Formula 1 Races in Asia and Europe and I met a lot of people and made friends around the world. But I also found out that I need a lot more seat time and experience and I think this is what I will get in Formula Renault UK. Formula Renault UK is a very competitive series that has produced such talented drivers like Heikki Kovalainen, Kimi Raikkonen, David Coulthard and last but not least Lewis Hamilton. The Hitech team has vast experience in running junior formulas such as Formula Renault and F3. It also won the 2007 British F3 championship with Marco Asmer, who is now a BMW F1 test driver. „My engineer, Chris Weller has run Jenson Button in British F3“, says Stockinger. „I think I will be able to draw on his extensive experience and he will be able to teach me a lot. I am really looking forward to the testing starting in February in the UK.“
|