Completing the seventh round of the Formula V8 3.5, Egor Orudzhev (Arden Motorsport) cruised to a stunning win in race 2 at Monza. The Russian made his way back to the top step of the podium after Le Castellet and was followed to the line by René Binder (Lotus) and Louis Delétraz (Fortec Motorsports) who was also the best finishing rookie. Tom Dillmann (AVF) brought home an eight place that enabled him to retain the championship lead.
The race started with a bang as pole-sitter Roy Nissany (Lotus) stalled on the grid at the beginning of the formation lap. The car driven by the Israeli racer was then brought to the pit-lane while the rest of the pack proceeded to the start. As the lights went off, Orudzhev had the best launch and led from the first corner. René Binder (Lotus) and Louis Delétraz (Fortec Motorsports) were behind him with the Swissman making contact with Matthieu Vaxiviere (SMP Racing) in turn 1. The Frenchman made his way to the pits on lap 1 while Dillmann moved up to P4 in front of Beitske Visser (Teo Martin Motorsoport), Pietro Fittipaldi (Fortec Motorsports), Vitor Baptista (RP Motorsport), Yu Kanamaru (Teo Martin Motorsport), Wiliam Buller (RP Motorsport) and Alfonso Celis Jr. (AVF).
The race was soon neutralized for a multi-car contact when Aurélien Panis (Arden Motorsport) took-off after being squeezed between Celis Jr and Baptista. Action resumed on lap seven, when SMP Racing called Vaxiviere back in for his mandatory pit-stop.
On lap 8, Baptista, Visser, Cipriani and Nissany pitted too followed by Delétraz, Buller and Celis on the lap 9. Fittipaldi pitted on the following lap while Orudzhev stayed in the lead in front of Binder. The Austrian tried to go for an undercut on his Russian rival on lap 11 together with Dillmann, but Arden Motorsport responded on lap 12, with Orudzhev holding onto the lead.
Kanamaru led for two laps but eventually came in on lap 13, returning to the track in 5th place behind Orudzhev, Binder, Delétraz and Fittipaldi. In the meantime, Baptista spun and retired at the first chicane while, on lap 15, Vaxiviere came back to the pits and stopped for good.
On lap 17, Nissany moved on Buller for sixth place. Orudzhev crossed the finishing line with 22 laps on his toll and his third win of the season. Binder and Delétraz shared the podium honours with him in P2 and P3 respectively.
Egor Orudzhev (Arden Motorsport)
“Thanks to all my team for this great result. I took the lead at the start and then we had a great pace so it was easy for me to keep it going. We had a great pit-stop too and I just kept my position after the tyre change”.René Binder (Lotus)
“It is good to be on the podium after the great pace we showed in practice. Yesterday I had a bad start but today I could enter the first corner without any problem so I could keep my position even if the start was not perfect”.
Louis Delétraz (Fortec Motorsports)
“I had a pretty good day. I made a great start from eighth to third. It has been a pretty tricky start like yesterday but it worked well for me, then I just had to keep my pace, I wasn’t fast enough to overtake but it’s good to be the best rookie again and to close the gap in standings”.
Kenny Kirwan, Arden Motorsport Team Manager
“For sure this is a great day for us at Arden Motorsport. Egor drove really well, we had a great pit-stop. The boys, engineers and mechanics worked really well this week-end to make it happen. Obviously our thoughts are with Aurélien at the moment. The latest news is that he is in hospital in Monza for some medical tests. He complained of back pain, he called medical assistance immediately after the crash by radio. Is ok with his legs, arms and can move his fingers”.
