Great battle between Sasahara and Déletraz: Sasahara wins race 1
Ukyo Sasahara (ART Junior Team) won race 1 at the Nürbrugring after a great battle with Louis Déletraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing). Winning race 1 puts Sasahara in second place in the championship, two points ahead of Kevin Jörg (Josef Kaufmann Racing) who finished third.
Both Sasahara and Déletraz had a good start and pulled away from the rest. A little back on the grid Darius Oskoui (ART Junior Team) clashed with Stefan Riener (Fortec Motorsports) but both stayed in the race. Stefan Riener managed to finish in 4th place, overtaking Jehan Daruvala (Fortec Motorsports) just before the finish. Oskoui finished 12th.
Some good fighting went on for places six till eleven. Max Defourny (ART Junior Team) fought his way back to sixth after dropping from fourth to tenth. Dan Ticktum (Koiranen GP), Nikita Mazepin (Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Josef Zaruba (AVF) finished behind Defourny.
Dries Vanthoor (Josef Kaufmann Racing) left the track in the first laps of the first qualifying session and had to start from the back of the grid. He finished 10th overtaking fellow rookie Pontus Fredricsson (Prizma Motorsport) in the last lap of the race. Fredricsson had his best finish sofar this year.
1. Ukyo Sasahara (ART Junior Team): « At the beginning I was very quick. Then the rain made the race very difficult so I was happy with the safety car. After the restart both Déletraz and I could pull away from the rest. I stayed safe. The team did a good job with the car. »
2. Louis Déletraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing): « I had a super start and a good race. For me it made no sense to take chances and ruin the possible championship win. Tomorrow I will start from pole and hope to finish the job properly. »
3. Kevin Jörg (Josef Kaufmann Racing): « I had a good start and could come next to Louis. But after that it was not an easy race. After the restart I had the right speed but no chance to overtake Déletraz. »
5. Jehan Daruvala (Fortec Motorsports): « I was 5th in the first qualifying session and 3rd in the second. I was really happy with my car. In the race I did not have a great start but after that I ran fourth and kept my pace. After the safety car period I had a bad restart as the track was still a bit damp and Stefan Riener could overtake me. But I am happy with being 5th. »
Race 2 : Two Rookies on the podium: Defourny wins, Daruvala second
Max Defourny (ART Junior Team) stood on the highest step of the podium for the second time this season and moved one place up to fourth in the championship. Second place went to rookie Jehan Daruvala (Fortec Motorsports), Force India’s protegé. Kevin Jörg scored his second third place this weekend and moves back to second in the championship.
Déletraz and Sasahara, pole sitter and second placed on the grid battled it out during the first half of the race. When Henrique Chaves (AVF) went off a safety car period followed. After the restart Sasahara outbreaked himself in Turn 1 and Déletraz, who was next to him, was not unable to turn in either and both went straight into the gravelpit. They were lucky to come out on the other end. Defourny had just had passed Daruvala and was now leading the race. Jörg stayed third, just in front of Stefan Riener (Fortec Motorsports), who as in race 1, finished fourth.
Dan Ticktum (Koiranen GP) and Alex Gill (Fortec Motorsports) battled it out for fifth and sixth, Ticktum coming out in front. Great racing and overtaking of Dries Vanthoor (Josef Kaufmann Racing) who once again started from the back of the grid to finish even better than yesterday, in seventh place.
Good defending of Josef Zàruba (AVF) made life difficult for Sasahara and Déletraz but in the end he had to let both go. Sasahara finished eighth while Déletraz had to be content to finish 10th. In between the two Colin Noble (MGR Motorsport) kept his cool to finish ninth. Bartek Mirecki (BM Racing) was happy to finish just outside of the top 10 in 11th place, his best result in the championship so far. Zàruba finished 12th.
1. Max Defourny, (ART Junior Team): « I had a good start and stayed out of trouble at the beginning of the race. I picked up speed and could put pressure on Jörg. After the restart I saw what happened to Sasahara and Déletraz so was very careful with my breaking point. Then I could pull away. I also set the fastest time, so all in all a great race. »
2. Jehan Daruvala (Fortec Motorsports): « I had a good start and stayed third. I did a 360 when on lap 3 or 4 I came onto the astro turf but could continue. When Ukyo and Louis went off I really pushed but Max was just a bit quicker. Thanks to Force India for supporting me. »
3. Kevin Jörg (Josef Kaufmann Racing): « My start was ok but I was not able to attack. I pulled closer to Daruvala in lap 2 but had too little grip and went straight and Max passed me. I had a good pace but after the restart I could not attack again. »
Press release Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
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