Matthieu Lahaye (Tech 1 Racing) took his second victory of the weekend after a thrilling duel with Jaap Van Lagen (Equipe Verschuur). Without a doubt, the Eurocup is going to go one of these two talented drivers! Franck Mailleux (TDS) will be satisfied to conclude his first weekend in the Eurocup Mégane Trophy with a podium finish. In total, more than 90,000 fans attended the UK round of the World Series by Renault.
Jean-Philippe Dayraut (Epsilon Euskadi) was a little bit early off the start, but Matthieu Lahaye (Tech 1 Racing) managed to hold him off on the brakes into the opening corner to retain the lead. Jaap Van Lagen (Equipe Verschuur) took advantage of the situation to move through into second position, while Franck Mailleux (TDS) moved up into fourth. Bruce Lorgeré-Roux unfortunately crashed out before the first lap was even over.
At the end of lap two, the safety car then had to come out for the first time this weekend to allow the race marshals to clear Pascal Ballay's Mégane (Energy Racing) from the track.
Lahaye, Van Lagen, Dayraut and Mailleux were followed by Bernard Ten Brinke (Equipe Verschuur), César Campaniço (Racing for Belgium), Pedro Petiz (Iris Racing), Ralph Meichtry (Race Performance), Miguel Freitas (Racing for Belgium) and Steve Abold (Roma team Baümgartner).
Racing resumed at the end of lap four. Lahaye only managed to move clear when Dayraut and Van Lagen got caught up in an energetic confrontation on the main straight! It was Dayraut who got the upper hand over Van Lagen. At the same time, Ten Brinke lost two places to Campaniço and Petiz.
Jean-Philippe Dayraut then picked up a drive-through' penalty for having jumped the start. This came just as Jaap Van Lagen had got back past him.
In the main field, there was plenty of action with spins from both Massimiliano Fantini (Oregon Team) and Sébastien Dhouailly (Thierry Boutsen Racing), who had been busy fighting it out with Andreas Mayerl (Sesterheim Racing) and several others.
After having served his penalty, Dayraut came back out in ninth position. Meanwhile, Jaap Van Lagen was piling on the pressure to try and take the lead away from Matthieu Lahaye. A few seconds back, Mailleux must have been breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Campaniço and Petiz collide.
Van Lagen finally found a way through on lap thirteen of fifteen. But Lahaye was not to be silenced and the two front-runners were racing side-by-side for quite some time! Van Lagen then made only the slightest error on the penultimate lap but it was all Lahaye needed. The Frenchman then held his own on the final lap to take his second win of the weekend! In the end, Bernhard Ten Brinke finished fourth, his best result so far in the Eurocup, after an intense battle with Ralph Meichtry decided by a gap of 115/1000ths at the line!
Matthieu Lahaye: "It was a very hotly contested race! I think that Jaap was faster than me and he didn't make things easy. I can't wait for Le Mans. I'll be on home territory and its my favourite circuit."
Jaap Van Lagen: "I fought very hard but I can't say I'm satisfied with second place. I made a mistake, but it's still a good result towards the Eurocup standings."
Franck Mailleux: "This weekend was something that little bit special with two FR 2.0 races and two Mégane races. I'm almost surprised to find myself on the podium. It hasn't taken me as long as I expected to adjust to the car."
Pos Number Driver Team Laps Time GapFirst KPH
1 32 Matthieu LAHAYE Tech 1 Racing 15 25:40.607 - 150.9 2 14 Jaap VAN LAGEN Equipe Verschuur 15 25:40.965 +0.358 151.6 3 41 Franck MAILLEUX TDS 15 25:48.450 +7.843 150.1 4 26 Bernhard TEN BRINKE Equipe Verschuur 15 25:55.936 +15.329 149.6 5 28 Ralph MEICHTRY Race Performance 15 25:56.051 +15.444 149.4 6 7 Pedro PETIZ Iris Racing 15 25:58.208 +17.601 150.3 7 6 Renaud KUPPENS Thierry Boutsen Racing 15 26:00.097 +19.490 149.6 8 10 Miguel FREITAS Racing For Belgium 15 26:02.113 +21.506 150.0 9 4 Cesar CAMPANIÇO Racing For Belgium 15 26:02.198 +21.591 150.4 10 11 Andreas MAYERL Sesterheim Racing 15 26:03.308 +22.701 149.9 11 24 Jean-Philippe DAYRAUT Epsilon Euskadi 15 26:03.574 +22.967 151.7 12 29 Steve ABOLD Roma Team Baumgärtner 15 26:10.254 +29.647 149.4 13 20 Massimiliano FANTINI Oregon Team 15 26:10.949 +30.342 149.8 14 21 Mathieu CHERUY Energy Racing 15 26:27.682 +47.075 148.2 15 42 Ron MARCHAL RACING FOR BELGIUM 15 26:40.248 +59.641 147.6 16 18 Rafael UNZURRUNZAGA Blue Jumeirah Team 14 26:51.755 1 Lap 134.0 17 19 Luigi FERRARA Oregon Team 13 23:21.128 2 Laps 149.0 9 Sébastien DHOUAILLY Thierry Boutsen Racing 8 14:38.998 147.7 23 James KIRKPATRICK Epsilon Euskadi 8 14:50.421 149.6 35 Bruce LORGERE-ROUX Tech 1 Racing 1 2:36.873 33 Jean-Charles MIGINIAC Team Lompech Sport 0 38 Charles HALL TP COMPETITION / Moteur H 0 22 Pascal BALLAY Energy Racing 0
