Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 - Donington – Race 2

Marked by three starts due to collisions between drivers, race 2 at Donington Park saw Brendon Hartley (Red Bull Epsilon) claim his fourth win of the season. The New Zealander, who has a comfortable lead at the top of the overall standings, prevailed over his teammate Stefano Coletti, and Nelson Panciatici (Boutsen Energy Racing).

Martin Plowman (Prema Powerteam) was the first to fall foul of a turbulent pack in the opening bends. The safety car was brought out at the end of the first lap. Several drivers were taken by surprise by the slowing traffic ahead of them and were involved in a collision: Roberto Merhi, Oliver Turvey (Jenzer Motorsport), Francesc Moreno (Omicron Racing) and Khalil Beschir (Carlin Motorsport). The race was then red-flagged.

The initial grid was reformed for the restart, with the race now scheduled to last 21 minutes plus one lap. Just as the first time around, Brendon Hartley was the first man through the opening bend, followed by Stefano Coletti. But a collision between Frank Kechele (Motopark Academy) and Charles Pic (SG Formula) caused another pile-up. Fabio Leimer (Jenzer Motorsport) was sent into a spectacular multiple roll. Roberto Merhi, whose car had been repaired after the earlier collision, and Jaime Alguersuari (Epsilon Red Bull) were among those forced to retire.

And so the race was restarted again, this time with the safety car out on the track, and without incident. Behind Hartley and Coletti, Nelson Panciatici and Jon Lancaster (SG Formula) were engaged in a fierce battle for third place. They quickly broke away from Alexandre Marsoin (SG Formula), who found himself under pressure from Oliver Oakes (Motopark Academy), Mihai Marinescu (District Racing) and Mika Mäki (Epsilon Red Bull).

Mäki took seventh place from Marinescu on lap 5. At the front, Hartley was able to open up a sizeable gap on Coletti. But the battle for fifth between Marsoin, Oakes, Mäki and Marinescu was far from over. Oakes lost a lot of ground on lap 8, falling back to eighth place. Mäki, meanwhile, continued to move up the field, passing Marsoin at the end of the same lap. On the penultimate lap, Oakes snatched seventh place back from Marinescu.

The suspense was total right to the finish: with just a few bends remaining before the chequered flag, Hartley made an error that forced him onto the grass. Coletti tried to sneak past him, but the New Zealander managed to hold him off.

Brendon Hartley: "I lost my concentration a little bit at the end of the race and I made a little mistake that could really have cost me. It's the sort of thing I can't afford to do again if I want to reach my goals, which are to finish every race and score as many points as possible…"

Stefano Coletti: "When I saw Brendon slip up on the final lap I tried to get past him, while at the same time trying not to run into him. It didn't happen, which is a shame, but it's great for the team to have done the double."

Nelson Panciatici: "I feel really good with the Boutsen Energy Racing team, I think we've done some really good work together this weekend. I hope to improve and pick up a win at Magny-Cours in front of the French crowd."

Pos Number Driver  Team  Laps Time GapFirst KPH 1 18 Brendon HARTLEY EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 11 17:51.332 - 162.0   2 15 Stefano COLETTI EPSILON EUSKADI 11 17:51.779 +0.447 162.1   3 34 Nelson PANCIATICI BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 11 17:54.142 +2.810 161.9   4 3 Jon LANCASTER SG DRIVERS PROJECT 11 17:55.786 +4.454 162.0   5 16 Mika MÄKI EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 11 18:00.820 +9.488 160.7   6 4 Alexandre MARSOIN SG DRIVERS PROJECT 11 18:03.087 +11.755 160.4   7 5 Oliver OAKES MOTOPARK ACADEMY 11 18:03.318 +11.986 160.4   8 29 Mihai MARINESCU DISTRICT RACING 11 18:03.769 +12.437 160.5   9 27 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS BVM MINARDI TEAM 11 18:03.988 +12.656 160.5   10 22 Federico MUGGIA CRAM COMPETITION 11 18:06.949 +15.617 160.0   11 21 Daniele ZAMPIERI CRAM COMPETITION 11 18:07.536 +16.204 160.4   12 9 Oliver TURVEY JENZER MOTORSPORT 11 18:07.911 +16.579 160.1   13 35 Anton NEBILTSKIY SL FORMULA 11 18:08.450 +17.118 160.6   14 8 Tobias HEGEWALD MOTORSPORT ARENA 11 18:08.659 +17.327 162.0   15 32 Tiago PETIZ OMICRON RACING 11 18:14.167 +22.835 160.4   16 6 Frank KECHELE MOTOPARK ACADEMY 11 18:15.261 +23.929 163.0   17 28 Aleix ALCARAZ DISTRICT RACING 11 18:15.809 +24.477 160.3   18 12 Miquel JULIÀ EPSILON EUSKADI 11 18:18.711 +27.379 160.6   19 36 Pedro NUNES SL FORMULA 11 18:20.437 +29.105 159.2   20 23 Andrea CALDARELLI PREMA POWERTEAM 11 18:20.823 +29.491 160.7   21 30 Facundo CROVO OMICRON RACING 11 18:30.261 +38.929 158.7   22 38 Joe GHANEM CARLIN MOTORSPORT 11 18:33.400 +42.068 157.7   23 14 Pablo MONTILLA EPSILON EUSKADI 11 18:46.622 +55.290 156.8   24 26 Cesar RAMOS BVM MINARDI TEAM 10 16:41.810 1 Lap 159.5     31 Francesc MORENO OMICRON RACING 7 13:06.238   156.8     37 Khalil BESCHIR CARLIN MOTORSPORT 4 8:42.918   118.8     2 Charles PIC SG FORMULA 0           19 Jaime ALGUERSUARI EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 0           11 Fabio LEIMER JENZER MOTORSPORT 0           7 Fabio ONIDI MOTORSPORT ARENA 0           10 Roberto MERHI JENZER MOTORSPORT 0           33 Stephane RICHELMI BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 0           24 Martin PLOWMAN PREMA POWERTEAM 0           25 Henki WALDSCHMIDT PREMA POWERTEAM 0