Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 - Hungaroring – Race 1
Winner of both races at Zolder, Brendon Hartley (Red Bull Epsilon) rediscovered his Midas touch at the Hungaroring. The New Zealander dominated the race, whilst runner-up Jon Lancaster (SG Formula) and third-placed Mihai Marinescu (District Racing) both had great races to finish on the Eurocup podium for the first time.
Polesitter Jules Bianchi (SG Formula) made a pig's ear of his start and was overtaken by both Brendon Hartley and Jaime Alguersuari (Red Bull Epsilon). Just behind these two, Nelson Panciatici (SG Formula) ran into the back of Alguersuari at the first corner. Jules Bianchi and Markus Niemela (BVM Minardi) were other drivers who got caught up in this incident.
As the safety car came out onto the track, Hartley completed the first lap in the lead, ahead of Mihai Marinescu, Jon Lancaster, Frank Kechele (Motopark Academy), Henki Waldschmidt (Prema Power Team), Roberto Merhi, Oliver Turvey (Jenzer Motorsport), Charles Pic (SG Formula), Fabio Onidi (Motorsport Arena) and Aleix Alcaraz (District Racing).
Racing resumed at the end of lap 4. Marinescu locked his wheels at the end of the start-finish straight, opening the way for Lancaster to get past. In the main field, Turvey overtook Merhi and Caldarelli moved into the top 10 ahead of Alcaraz.
At the start of lap 7, Merhi span at the end of the start-finish straight, rejoining in a lowly 20th position. At the front, Hartley had built up a four-second cushion over Lancaster. A few lengths back, Marinescu and Kechele were scrapping it out for third.
Francesc Moreno (Omicron Racing) then added his name to the list of retirements after crashing off the tricky corner no. 4. Not long afterwards, his team-mate Tiago Petiz also went off the track! The on-track acrobatics just kept coming: Nicola Zonzini (Cram Compétition) ran into the gravel, while Tobias Hegewald (Motorsport Arena) struggled to keep his single-seater on the track.
Aleix Alcaraz was clearly struggling to stay in the top 10: Mika Mäki and Oliver Oakes both moved past him with two laps to go.
Brendon Hartley: "It was an interesting race. I had a good start, which meant I was able to get through the first corner in the lead. It is a shame that the drivers just behind me clashed. I was particularly disappointed for my team-mate Jaime.»
Jon Lancaster: «I am getting better with each race – this first podium finish is a fantastic result for me. The weekend got off to a good start with good a test session on Friday. I managed to take that good form into qualifying. I was third at the first corner and I was able to take advantage of Mihai's error to grab second place.»
Mihai Marinescu: «I have wanted to finish on the podium for the last few races, so this is a great result for me and the team. I hope I can reproduce this kind of performance on a regular basis between now and the end of the year.»
Pos Number Driver Team Laps Time GapFirst KPH
1 18 Brendon HARTLEY EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 14 27:57.306 - 149.1 2 3 Jon LANCASTER SG DRIVERS PROJECT 14 28:03.436 +6.130 148.3 3 29 Mihai MARINESCU DISTRICT RACING 14 28:04.583 +7.277 148.2 4 6 Frank KECHELE MOTOPARK ACADEMY 14 28:05.557 +8.251 148.3 5 9 Oliver TURVEY JENZER MOTORSPORT 14 28:08.060 +10.754 148.2 6 2 Charles PIC SG FORMULA 14 28:08.747 +11.441 148.5 7 25 Henki WALDSCHMIDT PREMA POWERTEAM 14 28:09.543 +12.237 148.3 8 7 Fabio ONIDI MOTORSPORT ARENA 14 28:10.585 +13.279 148.2 9 23 Andrea CALDARELLI PREMA POWERTEAM 14 28:11.832 +14.526 147.9 10 16 Mika MÄKI EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 14 28:13.808 +16.502 147.9 11 5 Oliver OAKES MOTOPARK ACADEMY 14 28:14.598 +17.292 148.1 12 28 Aleix ALCARAZ DISTRICT RACING 14 28:15.672 +18.366 147.8 13 34 Pierre COMBOT BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 14 28:16.035 +18.729 147.8 14 26 Felipe LAPENNA BVM MINARDI TEAM 14 28:16.844 +19.538 147.5 15 8 Tobias HEGEWALD MOTORSPORT ARENA 14 28:17.843 +20.537 148.0 16 4 Alexandre MARSOIN SG DRIVERS PROJECT 14 28:19.063 +21.757 147.7 17 21 Daniele ZAMPIERI CRAM COMPETITION 14 28:20.695 +23.389 147.3 18 24 Martin PLOWMAN PREMA POWERTEAM 14 28:21.049 +23.743 147.8 19 11 Fabio LEIMER JENZER MOTORSPORT 14 28:22.788 +25.482 147.9 20 35 Anton NEBILTSKIY SL FORMULA 14 28:24.004 +26.698 147.3 21 10 Roberto MERHI JENZER MOTORSPORT 14 28:24.773 +27.467 148.0 22 38 Joe GHANEM CARLIN MOTORSPORT 14 28:31.830 +34.524 145.9 23 45 Bianca STEINER STEINER MOTORSPORT 14 28:32.202 +34.896 146.4 24 12 Miquel JULIÀ EPSILON EUSKADI 14 28:32.629 +35.323 146.8 25 14 Pablo MONTILLA EPSILON EUSKADI 14 28:37.676 +40.370 145.9 26 33 Stephane RICHELMI BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 14 28:37.949 +40.643 146.4 27 37 Jimmy AUBY CARLIN MOTORSPORT 14 28:38.386 +41.080 145.9 28 20 Nicola ZONZINI CRAM COMPETITION 14 28:42.584 +45.278 147.4 29 36 Pedro NUNES SL FORMULA 14 28:46.441 +49.135 146.2 32 Tiago PETIZ OMICRON RACING 10 22:12.546 146.6 31 Francesc MORENO OMICRON RACING 7 15:55.480 145.1 44 Simeon IVANOV BVM MINARDI TEAM 5 12:38.930 113.5 19 Jaime ALGUERSUARI EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 4 10:34.892 104.1 27 Markus NIEMELA BVM MINARDI TEAM 0 15 Stefano COLETTI EPSILON EUSKADI 0 1 Nelson PANCIATICI SG FORMULA 0 43 Jules BIANCHI SG DRIVERS PROJECT 0
