Formula Renault 3.5 - Silverstone - Race 2
At just nineteen, Robert Wickens (Carlin Motorsport) has claimed his first victory in Formula Renault 3.5 Series thanks to a winning strategy. The Canadian finished ahead of Giedo Van der Garde, who picked up valuable championship points, and Salvador Duran (Interwetten.com Racing).
Following incidents in the first race, various penalties were given. Fairuz Fauzy (Fortec Motorsport) and Miguel Molina (Prema Powerteam) both moved back four places on the starting grid. While Guillaume Moreau (KTR), who was given a twenty-five second penalty in the first race, dropped from sixth to thirteenth place.
Giedo Van der Garde made the best start to take the lead. Behind him was Salvador Duran who had taken the advantage over Robert Wickens and Esteban Guerrieri (Ultimate Signature). In the main field, Bertrand Baguette crashed out rejoining the race in last place. Giedo Van der Garde increased his lead over Salvador Duran, himself busy holding off challenges by Robert Wickens. Wickens let go after a number of unsuccessful attempts. Esteban Guerrieri, fourth, held off Marco Barba (International Draco), Marco Bonanomi (Red Devil Team Comtec), Fabio Carbone (Ultimate Signature), Guillaume Moreau (KTR), James Walker (Fortec Motorsport), Julien Jousse (Tech 1 Racing) and Charles Pic (Tech 1 Racing), all of whom were nose-to-tail.
Marco Bonanomi was the first to make his obligatory pit stop. The two leaders, Giedo Van der Garde and Salvador Duran, preferred to wait a little longer, making their stops on lap ten. They rejoined the race in the same positions.
Robert Wickens adopted a different strategy, driving a long first leg as did Marcos Martinez (Pons Racing) and Mario Romancini (Epsilon Euskadi). The last to stop, Robert Wickens exited the pits in the lead, a whisker ahead of Van der Garde and Duran. Wickens had managed to make a small lead over his rivals.
Marcos Martinez, fourth, overran and was passed by the two Ultimate Signature cars of Guerrieri and Carbone in hot pursuit. The two drivers held onto their positions until the finish.
Giedo Van der Garde got dangerously close to Robert Wickens at the end of the race. But it was not enough to stop Wickens from claiming his first Formula Renault 3.5 Series victory. Giedo Van der Garde, in second place, walked away with more precious points, while Salvador Duran concluded a successful weekend with a podium finish and second place in the championship.
Robert Wickens: «We didn't really have a strategy planned in advance, we just adapted to the other drivers' decisions. Since the start of the weekend our car has been very competitive, so this win has been our reward. It's an important victory for the team on our home turf.»
Giedo Van der Garde: «This is a special circuit and I have to say that we didn't have the car quite right yesterday. We put that right and everything went very well. I lost time in traffic and Robert Wickens took advantage of that. The important thing is to win points, so we're pleased with the result.»
Salvador Duran: «It's been a great weekend! I had a problem with my gearbox selector at the end. I drove the last laps in fourth and fifth gear so I was very happy to have seen the chequered flag!»
Pos Number Driver Team Laps Time GapFirst KPH 1 6 Robert WICKENS CARLIN MOTORSPORT 26 42:37.544 - 192.0 2 21 Giedo Van Der GARDE P1 MOTORSPORT 26 42:38.239 +0.695 191.7 3 19 Salvador DURAN INTERWETTEN.COM RACING 26 42:48.734 +11.190 192.3 4 28 Esteban GUERRIERI ULTIMATE-SIGNATURE 26 42:50.627 +13.083 191.8 5 27 Fabio CARBONE ULTIMATE-SIGNATURE 26 42:51.792 +14.248 191.6 6 15 Marcos MARTINEZ PONS RACING 26 42:56.327 +18.783 191.0 7 4 Marco BARBA INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 26 42:56.893 +19.349 191.9 8 10 Alvaro BARBA PREMA POWERTEAM 26 43:00.355 +22.811 190.7 9 25 Marco BONANOMI RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 26 43:01.550 +24.006 190.3 10 1 Julien JOUSSE TECH 1 RACING 26 43:01.808 +24.264 191.1 11 17 Guillaume MOREAU KTR 26 43:04.473 +26.929 190.7 12 23 James WALKER FORTEC MOTORSPORT 26 43:05.307 +27.763 190.6 13 2 Charles PIC TECH 1 RACING 26 43:17.163 +39.619 192.2 14 26 Pasquale DiSABATINO RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 26 43:19.960 +42.416 189.8 15 24 Fairuz FAUZY FORTEC MOTORSPORT 26 43:20.262 +42.718 190.8 16 3 Bertrand BAGUETTE INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 26 43:20.783 +43.239 189.9 17 14 Maximo CORTES PONS RACING 26 43:23.974 +46.430 189.1 18 5 Mikhail ALESHIN CARLIN MOTORSPORT 26 43:24.980 +47.436 190.4 19 7 Mario ROMANCINI EPSILON-EUSKADI 26 43:35.456 +57.912 188.4 20 22 Pippa MANN P1 MOTORSPORT 26 43:37.232 +59.688 189.6 21 12 Duncan TAPPY RC MOTORSPORT 26 43:37.485 +59.941 189.7 22 11 Aleix ALCARAZ RC MOTORSPORT 26 43:41.180 +1:03.636 189.5 23 16 Daniil MOVE KTR 26 43:58.875 +1:21.331 188.7 24 20 Pablo SANCHEZ INTERWETTEN.COM RACING 26 43:59.164 +1:21.620 190.2 25 8 Alexandre MARSOIN EPSILON-EUSKADI 25 43:23.351 1 Lap 186.8 9 Miguel MOLINA PREMA POWERTEAM 11 18:57.716 189.1
