Andrea Pizzitola (Manor MP Motorsport) scored his maiden win the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 this Sunday. The French driver led from start to finish taking the win at the Motorland Aragón circuit ahead of Kevin Jorg (Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Bruno Bonifacio (Prema Powerteam). Championship leader, Nyck de Vries (Koiranen GP) finished just off the podium in fourth place.Disqualified from qualifying the day before for not meeting the minimum fuel requirement, Andrea Pizzitola got his revenge in taking the pole morning. The Frenchman was followed by Kevin Jorg, Bruno Bonifacio and Nyck de Vries on the starting grid.
When the lights went out, Andrea Pizzitola got the hole shot to hold on to his lead from the rest of the field. Alexander Albon (KTR) overtook Aurélien Panis (ART Junior Team) for fifth place. In a very animated pack, Matt Parry (Fortec Motorsports) and Dennis Korneev (JD Motorsport) were forced to retire.
On lap two, an error from Bruno Bonifacio allowed Nyck de Vries to take over third place. On the following lap, contact between Aurélien Panis and team mate Callan O’Keeffe brought an end to the hopes of the two drivers. In trying to re- pass Egor Orudzhev (Tech 1 Racing) for fifth place, Alexander Albon made contact with the Russian’s car, who then suffered a puncture.
Andrea Pizzitola maintained his advantage to go on for the win ahead of Kevin Jorg. Bruno Bonifacio assured the third spot on the podium when he got past Nyck de Vries on lap nine. Levin Amweg (ART Junior Team) took fifth place ahead of Simon Gachet (ARTA Engineering), Anthoine Hubert (Tech 1 Racing), Dennis Olsen (Prema Powerteam), Alexander Albon and Gustav Malja (Josef Kaufmann Racing) after some spirited battles in the final laps.
Quotes
Andrea Pizzitola: ”It is a very special moment after what happened yesterday. The team wasn’t at fault and we are still looking for the source of the problem. The car was quick and excellent all weekend. It is a relief and brings a great amount of joy to end the meeting like this!”
Kevin Jorg: ”After the start, Nyck was pouring on the pressure, but I was able to keep him behind me without making a mistake. Then, he committed an error that let me pull away and bring the car home. I am very happy with this first podium.”
Bruno Bonifacio: ”I got a good start, but a mistake at the hairpin cost me a position. My pace was good, but it is hard to make a difference on this track. Happily, Nyck made a mistake; we were side by side for seven corners in what was a very clean and exciting battle. Consistency will be the key and that is what we were able to do this weekend. We must continue to work to do more of the same.”
Provisional General Classification* : 1. N. de Vries – 37 points, 2. B. Bonifacio – 30, 3. A. Pizzitola – 25, 4. K. Jörg – 18, 5. E. Orudzhev – 15, …*Subject to confirmation of the results following the technical and sporting verifications.
