Lewis Williamson and Tim Sugden give Strakka Racing a double podium in the opening round of the 2016 Renault Sport Trophy at Motorland Aragon.
Strakka Racing made a strong start to life in the Renault Sport Trophy this weekendwith Lewis Williamson and Tim Sugden taking two podiums out of three at Motorland Aragon, leaving Williamson with an early championship lead in the Pro standings.
The team entered the weekend with high hopes in Eastern Spain, with ex-GP3 and Formula Renault 3.5 driver Williamson undertaking driving duties alongside Prestige racer Tim Sugden. Williamson put in a 1:52.477 lap time in qualifying on Saturday morning that was good enough for pole in both the Endurance and Sprint Pro races, leaving the duo in a great position for Saturday’s 45-minute season opener.
Williamson made a poor getaway from first on the grid, however some robust defensive driving allowed the Scot to hold off the advances of Nicky Pastorelli on the opening lap to maintain the lead. “For my first rolling start, I think it wasn’t too bad,” says Williamson. “I was also a little lucky, because it would have maybe been difficult to pass on this track. We were able to run at a good pace though and control the guys behind at the restart.”
Despite the early-race challenge from behind and an ill-timed safety car on lap 5, Williamson kept his cool at the front of the field and settled into a groove, setting multiple fastest laps – the quickest being a 1:52.309 on lap 10 – before handing over to Sugden on lap 19.
Sugden lost out on his out-lap to eventual winner Fabian Schiller for Marc VDS, while the #3 R-ace GP car also stole a march on the AM driver during the pit window. Nonetheless, Sugden held on to take a fine third place on his and the team’s debut race in the RS01 category.
Starting seventh in Sunday’s Sprint AM race, Sugden found himself penned in at the first corner and punted into a spin by the wayward #5 car of Ash Hand. Escaping with no significant damage, Sugden began his charge through the field, disposing of Renault F1 Development Driver Carmen Jorda and sliding past Andres Mendez with a well-executed dive down the inside at turn nine en-route to a battling sixth-place finish.
Sunday’s Sprint PRO race saw Williamson again make a sluggish start, which allowed a charging Kevin Korjus to take the lead going into turn one. Strakka’s #42 car remained within a second of Korjus throughout the race and on the 15th and final lap it looked as if Williamson would be able to try a move for the lead. With a closing Markus Palttala behind in third however, Williamson settled for second and an early points-lead in the Pro standings.
The next rounds take place on 13-15 May at Imola.
