After retiring on the formation lap yesterday, Lando Norris (Josef Kaufmann Racing) realised his first Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup victory today. The 16-year-old Briton dominated this weekend’s second race at Silverstone from start to finish. Will Palmer (R-ace GP) scored his third consecutive podium with second place. Dorian Boccolacci (Tech 1 Racing) became third and stayed on top of the championship points. Race one winner Max Defourny (R-ace GP) took fifth place.
After a clean start from pole position, Lando Norris could manage his lead throughout the race and finally brought home his first championship’s win with a 4.1-second-margin. Bristol-born Norris also topped the Rookie classification.
Will Palmer stayed in second position, where he had started from. Same for Dorian Boccolacci in third spot. Drivers reported tyre degradation would not have been an issue today and did not lead to late overtaking as it was seen yesterday. As a result, the order remained unchanged.
DEFOURNY LOSES AGAINST DARUVALA
After having started from fourth, Max Defourny lost his place to Jehan Daruvala (Josef Kaufmann Racing). The Force India junior came home in fourth ahead of the Belgian race one winner.
Julien Falchero (R-ace GP) topped yesterday’s eighth place and scored his best result so far with sixth position. All three R-ace GP cars reached top six positions. The first ten were completed by Callan O’Keeffe (JD Motorsport), Alex Gill (Mark Burdett Motorsport), Vasily Romanov, and Ferdinand Habsburg (both Fortec Motorsports).
CLOSE BATTLES IN THE BACK
Hugo de Sadeleer (Tech 1 Racing), Bruno Baptista (Fortec Motorsports), and Bartłomiej Mirecki fought for positions 14 to 16 for a long time, ending up in the quoted order. With 20th place in both races, US-American newcomer David Porcelli (MGR Motorsport) scored a point twice.
Henrique Chaves (AVF by Adrián Vallés) collided with Robert Shwartzman (Josef Kaufmann Racing) early in the race. Shwartzman immediately retired and Chaves stopped in the pits as well after being called in to serve a drive through penalty.
NEW VENUE LIES AHEAD
On 18 and 19 June, the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup visits the Hungaroring near to Budapest for the first time in its eleven-year-history, adding a further Formula 1 circuit.
DRIVER’S QUOTES
Lando Norris (Josef Kaufmann Racing): « Coming back from yesterday’s disappointment, this win feels good. With my nice gap after three laps, I could keep it calm. I struggled a bit with the tyres in the last two laps, but I had a slight advantage because obviously I didn’t use the tyres yesterday. I’m pleased to get a load of points. Hopefully, it’s the first of many wins. »
Will Palmer (R-ace GP): « It was quite a good race. It’s always difficult to beat Lando. He had better tyres and has been very quick this weekend. My next goal was not to lose second. I saved the tyres and that paid off. Even in the end, it was quite comfortable. After the bad opening race at Monza, we have been right on and we need to keep this momentum going. »
Dorian Boccolacci (Tech 1 Racing): « I started in third and finished in third. It wasn’t a special race. I was behind Palmer, but I couldn’t overtake without any risk. You lose too much grip in the front if you follow closely. It was a positive weekend. It’s good to be strong in every race. »
Press release Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
]]>
