Mark Burdett Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Red Bull Ring review

HAT-TRICK OF POINTS FINISHES IN AUSTRIA SEE MAYER ROCKET UP NEC STANDINGS

Malaysian single-seater racer Rahul Raj Mayer delivered his most impressive performance of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup season so far at the Red Bull Ring in Austria over the weekend, 6th/7th June, with a best-yet finish of 13th position for Mark Burdett Motorsport.

 Chalking-up three excellent points-scoring results in rounds five, six and seven, Mayer rocketed up the championship table from 27th position into equal 20th place and the team is now eyeing bigger progress next month when the championship resumes after a lengthy seven week summer break.

 Achieving a top 15 result in race one of the weekend on Saturday, his first competitive outing at the undulating Austrian track, the 18-year-old replicated that in race two and then saved the best for last in the third encounter for the Lincolnshire-based squad.

“Rahul made great progress this weekend, especially when you consider he hasn’t done any testing since the last round at Silverstone”, said team owner Mark Burdett, “He’s improving all the time and made some big steps forward, most of the other drivers had done between two and four days of testing at the Red Bull Ring last month so he was at a big disadvantage right from the start.

“We can’t fault his performances, he was in the top 15 in the first race – which was his best result up that point – and went on to take his best result so far in the last one. You can’t ask for more than that, he really has done a great job this weekend and we’re very happy with his development.”

Mayer certainly started off promisingly in round five on Saturday afternoon and was in contention for a potential top 12 result during the first half of the action-packed contest. Beginning his first race at the Red Bull Ring in 18th position, a good start and smart piece of driving enabled the Malaysian to gain a couple of places at Turn One and he then set about challenging for the top 15.

 Getting a good run up the hill into the first corner at the beginning of the second tour, Mayer made a successful pass on Josef Zaruba to move into 15th and two laps later he gained more ground when a rival hit trouble.

 Soon enough, the Formula Renault rookie had climbed into 13th position and was just 0.3 seconds outside the top 12 as the race neared mid-distance. After being elbowed down to 15th spot in the hotly-contested midfield battle, though, Mayer had to spend the remainder of the race checking his mirrors as he successfully fended off Bartlomiej Mirecki to the finish.

 Lining-up 17th on the grid for round six on Sunday morning, Mayer safely negotiated Turn one in 16th position and quickly climbed into 14th place. Edged back to 15th into lap two, he was put wide into the second corner and lost another couple of spots but managed to end the lap in 16th position.

 Breaking back into the top 15 on lap three, he then tried to get on terms with the group ahead while also keeping an eye on Henrique Chaves behind. Although gaining a place before the halfway point into 14th at the expense of Ferdinand Habsburg, who was given a drive-through penalty for a jump start, Mayer started to come under increasing pressure from Chaves but did well to fend him off.

 With just over 12 minutes left on the clock, though, the Mark Burdett driver was edged back to 15th and thereafter turned his attention to trying to keep race one rival Mirecki at bay. Maintaining a gap of roughly one second initially, during the final few laps the gap reduced but Mayer held on.

 For the final race of the weekend, Mayer again started on the ninth row of the grid but after a great start and excellent first lap he had climbed into 14th position and looked well on course for his best result of the season to date.

 Running in a very tightly bunched pack at the fringe of the top 10, the first year Formula Renault racer produced excellent racecraft under pressure and by lap seven he had moved forward into the top 12. Despite being edged back by Zaruba with three laps to run, Mayer maintained 13th place to the chequered flag to underpin his best performance of 2015.

 Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup now has a lengthy seven week break from action with Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium welcoming the championship on Friday, 24th July, and Saturday, 25th July, as part of the support package for the annual Total 24 Hours of Spa.

“With such a big gap to Spa, hopefully we might be able to get some testing sorted out which will be really valuable for Rahul”, added Burdett, “If he can go into the next round with some more mileage under his belt and time in the car, the top 10 is definitely possible.”

Provisional 2015 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Driver Standings (after Rd7): =20th Rahul Raj Mayer & Pontus Fredricsson, 25pts

Provisional 2015 Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Team Standings (after Rd7): 9th Mark Burdett Motorsport, 25pts


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