A grand slam in the first race of the season isn’t a poor way to start at all, and that’s exactly what Joesf Kaufmann Racing’s Louis Delétraz achieved in Race 1 of the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. Fortec’s Ben Barnicoat claimed second, followed by Anthoine Hubert for Tech 1. Highest placed rookie was AVF’s Harrison Scott in 12th place.
A perfect start from the Swiss driver saw him maintain his lead from pole position, with Barnicoat and Olsen dropped slightly behind him. The first lap was relatively clean, slight contact between Sorensen and Chaves being the only drama throughout the field. Although the incident was later investigated, no further action was taken.
By the end of lap 1 the gap between P1 and P2 was over 1.5 seconds. Dennis Olsen had dropped to P6 after an overtaking attempt gone wrong, allowing Jorg into P3. Towards the end of the points a battle between Sasahara and Aitken struck up and lasted the duration of the race – with the Brit emerging on top to claim the final point.
Experience was proving valuable throughout, D’Agosto sliding past Jake Hughes and Simon Gachet and Hubert hammering in fastest laps and up into P3. While the top half of the field remained static incidents further down the order led to retirements from O’Keffee and Vivacqua. The latter came into contact with Matthew Graham, and while Graham was able to continue it was a premature end for the Brazilian. Lotus backed Callan O’Keeffe was an innocent victim of extremely late braking at the hands of Sadeleer and while the Swiss driver made it to the pits to complete the lap and be classified, O’Keeffe had no choice but to abandon his car and hitch a ride back to the pits on the back of a scooter.
For Delétraz it was victory, 2.3 seconds ahead of Racing Steps Foundation supported Ben Barnicoat in P2, and FFSA member Hubert in P3. Delétraz claimed the fastest lap set on L9 out of 14. 2014 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford runner-up Harrison Scott finished as the highest placed rookie, 20 seconds down from Delétraz in P12.
| 1 (25) Louis DELÉTRAZ SUI JOSEF KAUFMANN RACING |
| 2 (18) Ben BARNICOAT GBR FORTEC MOTORSPORTS |
| 3 (15) Anthoine HUBERT FRA TECH 1 RACING |
| 4 (12) Matevos ISAAKYAN RUS J.D. MOTORSPORT SRL |
| 5 (10) Kevin JÖRG SUI JOSEF KAUFMANN RACING |
| 6 (8) Dennis OLSEN NOR MANOR MP MOTORSPORT |
| 7 (6) Ignazio D’AGOSTO ITA MANOR MP MOTORSPORT |
| 8 (4) Jake HUGHES GBR KOIRANEN GP |
| 9 (2) Simon GACHET FRA TECH 1 RACING |
| 10 (1) Jack AITKEN GBR KOIRANEN GP |
| 11 Ukyo SASAHARA JPN ART JUNIOR TEAM |
| 12 Harrison SCOTT GBR AVF R |
| 13 Martin KODRIC CRO FORTEC MOTORSPORTS |
| 14 Charlie EASTWOOD IRL STRAKKA RACING R |
| 15 Matthew GRAHAM GBR AVF |
| 16 Luke CHUDLEIGH CAN FORTEC MOTORSPORTS |
| 17 Darius OSKOUI SUI ART JUNIOR TEAM R |
| 18 Amaury RICHARD FRA ARTA ENGINEERING R |
| 19 Valentin HASSE-CLOT FRA STRAKKA RACING R |
| 20 Lasse SØRENSEN DEN MANOR MP MOTORSPORT R |
| 21 Anton DE PASQUALE AUS KOIRANEN GP R |
| 22 Amaury BONDUEL FRA J.D. MOTORSPORT SRL R |
| 23 Bruno BAPTISTA BRA KOIRANEN GP R |
| 24 Zachary CLAMAN DEMELO CAN FORTEC MOTORSPORTS R |
| 25 James ALLEN AUS ARTA ENGINEERING |
| 26 Henrique CHAVES POR AVF R |
| 27 Hugo DE SADELEER SUI TECH 1 RACING |