Three wins and EcoBoost EuroCup Spa crown for JTR manSorensen, van Os and Florie share the Duratec wins
Nick Tandy, returning to his Formula Ford roots for a fun weekend in the EuroCup at Spa-Francorchamps, did exactly as expected and claimed a clean sweep of race victories at the Belgian Grand Prix circuit, and with them the Spa EuroCup Champions crown.
However, none of the races was straightforward. The first was abandoned after only three laps due to a serious accident; the second was cut slightly short by another crash, and in the third Nick and his JTR EcoBoost Mygale were made to work very hard for their win by the talented young Formula Ford regulars.
Tandy loved every minute of his successful weekend: I have really enjoyed racing the EcoBoost at Spa. Its still a drivers car and yet it has all the latest technology and a really strong engine, and its still great racing - thats the thing. And its a whole lot of fun around here.
Race 1Tandy won an accident-hit and truncated opening race in the Formula Ford EuroCups Belgian weekend on Friday, but there was little joy in the returning heros victory
A first-lap accident approaching the Fagnes S-bend accounted for five cars. Two drivers were hurt in the incident, 16-year-old Dutchman Jos Kiekens, who suffered a leg fracture, and George Blundell, who broke a toe. Kiekens was airlifted to hospital in Liege where he underwent an operation, which was pronounced a success. Blundell was treated locally for his injury. Also eliminated from the race with car damage were Denmarks Nicolai Sylvest and British drivers Matt Rao and Ryan Cullen.
The safety car was called on track immediately and picked up leader Tandy before the end of the first lap. Three laps were completed under race-neutral conditions before the decision was taken to bring the event to a premature close.
Race 2Tandy scored his second win of the weekend this morning, the JTR Mygale EcoBoost driver claiming a 1.6s victory over Jamun Racings Eric Lichtenstein. But once again the race ended prematurely after an accident; had it run to full distance the result might have been a different one.
Tandy set off like a scalded cat from pole position, completing the opening lap 3.2s in front of the pack. It was not just that Tandy had the hammer down, but also that the pursuing Jamun cars of Eric Lichtenstein, Jake Cook and Luke Williams were delayed into La Source. Jake couldnt get first gear at the start, explained Williams, so going into the first corner he held us all up and Nick was gone.
On the second lap Cook slipped to a distant fourth after an error at the Bus Stop. Eric towed past me on the straight but when I tried to do the same again my car wouldnt do it. We will have to investigate the data to find out why, said Jake. Then I tried to outbrake him at the chicane and went straight on, and that dropped me back, and once you have lost the tow here there is not much you can do.
Lichtenstein and Williams worked well together to try to reel in Tandy. By lap four Nicks advantage was down to 1.6s and a form book upset looked a possibility. I pushed too hard at the start and the tyres dropped off a bit, admitted the pro Porsche racer.
Tandy was saved from embarrassment by the red flag, which flew when Ryan Cullen - at the wheel of a borrowed EcoBoost car following his Friday race crash - touched wheels with Dutch Duratec runner Michel Florie and Ryan hit the old pit straight wall, his car coming to rest in the middle of the track. Neither driver was hurt in the incident.
Thus the results were declared after six laps, with Tandy in front from Lichtenstein and Williams, Cook fourth and JTRs Julio Moreno fifth. The car was good; perhaps Ill go a bit easier at the start in the next one, said the winner.
Lichtenstein was disappointed that the race ended when it did: We were working together to catch Nick, and the red flag really upset our plan. We were gaining on him a lot.
Added Williams: We spoke before the race about towing each other but our problem was that after the first lap Nick was so far away. We closed him down quite quickly towards the end but we just didnt have enough time.
The battle for Duratec honours was intense and exciting throughout, with Florie, Bart van Os and Max van Splunteren all taking turns up front. GEVA Racings van Os had just nosed ahead by the end of the sixth lap and thus took the class. It was a very good race but very difficult, said Bart. We were overtaking the whole time; first I would lead then Michel, then Max. What ended the battle was the crash on the hill down from La Source; I dont know what happened because it was all just behind me.
Van Splunteren added: It happened just in front of me: two cars touched and the turbo car went into the guardrail. I had to brake hard to miss it and avoid going into the wall also. Under Dutch championship rules the results awarded Florie class second from van Splunteren, with Falco Wauer fourth for Enigma Motorsport.
Race 3Nick Tandy was crowned Formula Ford EuroCup Champion of Spa-Francorchamps but was made to work hard for his third race win of the weekend.
Pole-sitter Tandy was deprived of the lead on the opening lap by the Jamun Racing machine of Jake Cook and, though the old pro regained top spot on lap two, Cooks team-mate Eric Lichtenstein chased Tandy for all he was worth until technical problems blunted the Argentinians pace with three laps to go.
Tandy had vowed not to set too strong a pace at the start, but Nick may have underestimated the challenge he would face from his Jamun pursuers. Here there are always big slipstreaming battles and unless you can make a break its always going to be difficult, he said. I didnt have a particularly good run out of Eau Rouge on the first lap and Jake slipstreamed past and then all the others were on me.
Tandy slipstreamed past Cook to regain top spot down the Kemmel straight on lap two, now with Lichtenstein gunning for him. Jake slipped back: I got a really good start and then passed Eric at Eau Rouge on the first lap because he made a mistake. Then I made one next time around which dropped me back to fourth.
The Tandy v Lichtenstein battle raged until lap five, when Eric started to slow with engine gremlins. Said Nick: I had a really good race with Eric - he was driving really well, forceful but very fair. He was really pushing hard and I had to work for it. After he disappeared it was plain sailing and another win for JTR.
Luke Williams had been running third behind Lichtenstein but suffered his own engine problems on lap five and was forced to retire. I nearly went off on Lukes oil when he had his problem and my temperature gauge started to rise so I had to back off a bit, said Cook, who crossed the line 8.6s behind Tandy.
Lichtenstein continued to circulate slowly, his and Williams problems promoting JTRs teenager Julio Moreno to third. The Ecuadorian was delighted with his first Formula Ford podium: It was tricky. This is my first time here, so I needed to learn the track. Then I had a bad start - I missed a gear - but after that it was a case of trying to catch those in front.
Ryan Cullen finished fourth on the road in his borrowed EcoBoost Mygale, but a 10s penalty imposed by race stewards for his part in an accident in race two demoted him to eighth overall. Thus veteran Dutch Duratec racer Michel Florie claimed fourth overall and a convincing Duratec class victory for Provily Racing ahead of GEVA men Bart van Os and Max van Splunteren.
Flories car had had to undergo major works after his race two crash with Cullen. After the crash this morning the team had to completely rebuild the car, said Michel, and I had a three-month-old tyre on the left side because my original tyres were shot and I had to use the spares. The result was amazing: I wish my car was always this good! The team did an incredible job for me. I would like to dedicate this win to my team-mate Jos Kiekens, who is in hospital after his crash.
Lichtenstein was classified seventh ahead of Cullen, with Danish Fluid Van Diemen Duratec men Lasse Sorensen and Nicolai Sylvest completing the top 10.
Formula Ford EuroCup - Spa-Francorchamps (BEL)Provisional results Race 1 6/7/20123 laps / 13.06 miles1 Nick TANDY/GBR JTR Mygale EcoBoost 14m 16.773s / 54.86mph2 Eric LICHTENSTEIN/ARG Jamun Mygale EcoBoost +3.133s3 Jake COOK/GBR Jamun Mygale EcoBoost +4.246s4 Julio MORENO/ECU JTR Mygale EcoBoost +5.262s5 Luke WILLIAMS/GBR Jamun Mygale EcoBoost +6.470s6 Lasse SORENSEN/DEN Fluid Van Diemen Duratec +7.762s7 Max van SPLUNTEREN/NED GEVA Mygale Duratec +9.371s8 Falco WAUER/NOR Enigma Mygale Duratec +10.244s9 Michel FLORIE/NED Provily Mygale Duratec +11.980s10 Bart van OS/NED GEVA Mygale Duratec +12.938sFastest lap: Williams 5m 34.899s / 46.78mph
Race 2 7/7/20126 laps / 26.11 miles1 TANDY 14m 39.079s / 106.93mph2 LICHTENSTEIN +1.656s3 WILLIAMS +2.041s4 COOK +7.615s5 MORENO +18.992s6 van OS +40.888s7 FLORIE +41.020s8 van SPLUNTEREN +41.318s9 Ryan CULLEN/GBR Cullen-Jamun Mygale EcoBoost +41.950s10 WAUER +42.119sFastest lap: Tandy 2m 25.470s / 107.70mph Rec
Race 3 7/7/20128 laps / 34.82 miles1 TANDY 19m 44.781s / 105.79mph2 COOK +8.635s3 MORENO +16.713s4 FLORIE +34.983s5 van OS +35.896s6 van SPLUNTEREN +42.326s7 LICHTENSTEIN +44.173s8 CULLEN +44.308s9 SORENSEN +46.280s10 Nicolai SYLVEST/DEN Fluid Van Diemen +46.539s etcFastest lap: Tandy 2m 26.161s / 107.19mph
Full times ris-timing.be/v2/
Next races 13-15 July Zandvoort (NED)
