A mega start from Kevin Jörg in race 2 of the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup series this weekend saw the Swiss driver earn his first win of the year ahead of pole sitter Jack Aitken and Jake Hughes, who repeated his podium worthy performance from race 1 to narrow the gap in the championship standings to just 10 points to Louis Delétraz.
A poor start from Aitken let Ben Barnicoat – who’d lined up next to him on the grid – and Jörg squeeze him into turn 1: “I made a mistake and had to back out”, admitted Aitken in the post race press conference. Harrison Scott also made a poor start, slipping back through the field as quick starters such as Hughes, Delétraz and Sasahara soared. Anton De Pasquale from the midfield made a jump start, earning him a drive through penalty during the race.
Jörg, who didn’t expect to win the race despite having new tyres compared to Aitken and Hughes’ used, sat comfortably in front for the entirety of the race. Barnicoat and Aitken undertook a closely fought battle for the second step on the podium, the Fortec driver holding his ground until a sudden and brief loss of power on the exit of Stowe. This dropped him back into the lower half of the poins.
The tightest battle for the majority of the race was that between Hughes, Sasahara and Delétraz, all three drivers squirming and driving all over the road in attempts to simultaneously attack and defend. Scott also joined in on the action, always being thereabouts but not close enough.
The move that caught everyone’s eye though was Scott’s attempt at passing Barnicoat in a daring manoeuvre, one that didn’t pay off. The AVF flew over the top of Barnicoat’s newly repaired Fortec, landing Scott in the wall and further damaging Barnicoat’s car, leading to him dropping back to be the last of the finishers. Also not finishing was Ignazio D’Agosto, who ended up in the barrier early on.
Results:
1 (25) 15 Kevin JÖRG SUI JOSEF KAUFMANN RACING
2 (18) 3 Jack AITKEN GBR KOIRANEN GP
3 (15) 2 Jake HUGHES GBR KOIRANEN GP
4 (12) 9 Ukyo SASAHARA JPN ART JUNIOR TEAM
5 (10) 36 Thiago VIVACQUA BRA J.D. MOTORSPORT SRL
6 (8) 17 Dennis OLSEN NOR MANOR MP MOTORSPORT
7 (6) 10 Darius OSKOUI SUI ART JUNIOR TEAM
8 (4) 14 Louis DELÉTRAZ SUI JOSEF KAUFMANN RACING
9 (2) 22 Anthoine HUBERT FRA TECH 1 RACING
10 (1) 7 Callan O´KEEFFE RSA FORTEC MOTORSPORTS
11 5 Martin KODRIC CRO FORTEC MOTORSPORTS
12 47 Nikita MAZEPIN RUS JOSEF KAUFMANN RACING
13 53 Will PALMER GBR ART JUNIOR TEAM
14 28 Charlie EASTWOOD IRL AVF
15 35 Matevos ISAAKYAN RUS J.D. MOTORSPORT SRL
16 52 Matteo FERRER ITA CRAM MOTORSPORT
17 21 Simon GACHET FRA TECH 1 RACING
18 8 Valentin HASSE-CLOT FRA FORTEC MOTORSPORTS
19 25 Amaury RICHARD FRA ARTA ENGINEERING
20 20 Hugo DE SADELEER SUI TECH 1 RACING
21 1 Anton DE PASQUALE AUS KOIRANEN GP
22 26 James ALLEN AUS ARTA ENGINEERING
23 6 Ben BARNICOAT GBR FORTEC MOTORSPORTS
24 27 Harrison SCOTT GBR AVF
