Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 - Hungaroring – Race 2
With two pole positions and two wins, Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula) has had a perfect weekend at the Hungaroring. As on the previous day, the Australian finished ahead of teammate Andrea Caldarelli, a regular in second place. Tobias Hegewald (Motopark Academy) made news by finishing on the podium for the first time this season.
Daniel Ricciardo once again started from pole position, ahead of teammates Andrea Caldarelli and Jean-Éric Vergne. The three men stayed in formation at the start, while Tobias Hegewald held onto fourth place ahead of Roberto Merhi (Epsilon Euskadi). As a result of a number of incidents which occurred on various sections of the circuit, the safety car put in an appearance at the end of the first lap. Pablo Montilla (Epsilon Euskadi), Victor Garcia (Prema Powerteam), Bastien Borget (Epsilon Sport), Luciano Bacheta (Hitech Junior Team), Dean Smith (Fortec Motorsport), Anton Nebilitsky (SG Driver Project) and Richard Campollo (Epsilon Euskadi) all retired, while Miki Monras (Hitech Junior Team) paid a visit to the pits.
After the restart, the race order remained the same. Ricciardo set the pace and pulled away. Behind, Vergne was threatening Caldarelli and found his chance at the end of the start-finish straight. Caldarelli got his own back a few corners later to take back his second position. Tobias Hegewald, Roberto Merhi and Albert Costa took advantage and closed the gap on the two SG Formula cars. The five drivers began the fight for second place.
On the seventh lap, Hegewald surprised Vergne at the end of the start-finish straight to claim third place. Albert Costa, who started tenth, took his revenge for the previous day's race, passing teammate Roberto Merhi to snatch fifth place. Further back in the main field, Sergio Campana (Prema Powerteam) and Christopher Zanella (Race Performance) collided.
Starting from twenty-fifth place on the grid, Valtteri Bottas made up places on every lap. He finished thirteenth and leaves Hungary without points. His chances for the title may be slipping away, as his main rivals scored big!
Leader from start to finish, Daniel Ricciardo claimed his fourth victory of the season ahead of teammate Andrea Caldarelli, who for the fourth time, finished in second place! Daniel Ricciardo's clean-sweep this weekend further confirms his lead in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship.
Daniel Ricciardo: «We've really worked hard at SG Formula. We found the right set-up straight away and my car just got better and better as the weekend went on. Just like yesterday, I was focused on the start. Maybe a little too much, as Andrea was really a challenge. But everything worked out well. It's a good result coming before the summer break.»
Andrea Caldarelli: »The race wasn't easy, most of all after the safety-car because I couldn't keep my tyres up to temperature. As a result, Jean-Eric attacked me, but then I took back my place. We are scoring more points now, I'm hoping to continue the trend in the second half of the season.»
Tobias Hegewald: «After our home race at Nürburgring, we couldn't have hoped for better. I started fourth and I was on the pace with the leaders. I put pressure on Vergne, he made a small mistake, and I made the best of it. I was right behind Andrea, but it wasn't possible to overtake him. The SG Formula drivers are really quick, but next time we're racing at home!»
Pos Number Driver Team Laps Time GapFirst KPH
1 12 Daniel RICCIARDO SG FORMULA 14 27:26.045 - 150.1 2 14 Andrea CALDARELLI SG FORMULA 14 27:32.549 +6.504 149.6 3 10 Tobias HEGEWALD MOTOPARK ACADEMY 14 27:33.271 +7.226 149.3 4 6 Jean Eric VERGNE SG DRIVERS PROJECT 14 27:36.097 +10.052 149.1 5 7 Albert COSTA EPSILON EUSKADI 2 14 27:36.460 +10.415 149.2 6 8 Roberto MERHI EPSILON EUSKADI 2 14 27:37.400 +11.355 149.2 7 27 Michele FACCIN JENZER MOTORSPORT 14 27:38.929 +12.884 149.1 8 33 Paul MEIJER EPSILON SPORT 14 27:40.931 +14.886 149.0 9 25 Cesar RAMOS BVM MINARDI TEAM 14 27:41.233 +15.188 149.1 10 24 Daniel ZAMPIERI BVM MINARDI TEAM 14 27:44.566 +18.521 148.6 11 43 Gabriel DIAS FORTEC COMPETITION 14 27:45.222 +19.177 148.4 12 28 Pal VARHAUG JENZER MOTORSPORT 14 27:45.672 +19.627 148.5 13 11 Valtteri BOTTAS MOTOPARK ACADEMY 14 27:46.113 +20.068 149.5 14 17 Sergio CAMPANA PREMA POWERTEAM 14 27:49.910 +23.865 147.9 15 35 Stephane RICHELMI EPSILON SPORT 14 27:50.691 +24.646 147.9 16 1 Jake ROSENZWEIG EPSILON EUSKADI 1 14 27:51.604 +25.559 148.4 17 29 Siso CUNILL JENZER MOTORSPORT 14 27:53.174 +27.129 147.2 18 18 Patrick REITERER PREMA POWERTEAM 14 27:53.433 +27.388 147.5 19 26 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS BVM MINARDI TEAM 14 27:54.071 +28.026 147.3 20 4 Ramez AZZAM SG DRIVERS PROJECT 14 27:54.902 +28.857 147.5 21 23 Juan Pablo GARCÃA TEAM MOTOPARK 14 27:55.265 +29.220 147.4 22 37 Miki MONRAS HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 14 27:55.550 +29.505 148.4 23 21 Nathanaël BERTHON BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 14 27:55.957 +29.912 147.7 24 9 Carlos MUÑOZ EPSILON EUSKADI 2 14 27:57.005 +30.960 147.3 25 19 Adam KOUT KRENEK MOTORSPORT 14 27:57.410 +31.365 147.2 26 66 Christopher ZANELLA RACE PERFORMANCE 14 27:58.382 +32.337 148.7 27 45 Nicolas MARROC TCS RACING 14 27:59.433 +33.388 147.8 28 39 Juan JACOBO HITECH JUNIOR RACING 14 28:04.221 +38.176 147.6 29 36 Richard SINGLETON HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 14 28:05.385 +39.340 148.6 30 30 Miguel OTEGUI IQUICK 14 28:06.768 +40.723 148.3 31 22 Kuba GIERMAZIAK TEAM MOTOPARK 14 28:18.302 +52.257 148.6 3 Richard CAMPOLLO EPSILON EUSKADI 1 7 28:20.457 149.2 5 Â Anton NEBILITSKYI SG DRIVERS PROJECT 2 5:27.344 2 Pablo MONTILLA EPSILON EUSKADI 1 0 16 Victor GARCIA PREMA POWERTEAM 0 34 Bastien BORGET EPSILON SPORT 0 38 Luciano BACHETA HITECH JUNIOR RACING 0 41 Dean SMITH FORTEC MOTORSPORT 0
