Race 1 Review:
Cypriot star Tio Ellinas secures emotional maiden Formula Renault 3.5 Series victory with dominant lights-to-flag drive in round 10
Silverstone-based Strakka Racing celebrated a truly sensational first win of the 2015 Formula Renault 3.5 Series campaign at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit , after an exceptional performance from Tio Ellinas.
From pole position, his first in the championship, Ellinas made a faultless launch from the line and went on to build an incredible lead of 14.5 seconds just over halfway into the contest.
Controlling the action throughout, making no mistakes, the 23-year-old went on to secure a memorable, and very emotional, first win in his debut season in the category – a success he dedicated to his late grandfather who sadly passed away two weeks ago.
“It’s amazing, it was amazing from the beginning, I’m grateful to the team,” said an elated Ellinas, “I want to dedicate this win to my grandfather because I lost him two weeks ago – this one is down to him and I hope there will be many more for him too.
“From the beginning it was a great start, good off the line, and then I was trying to build up a gap to the others. Lap by lap it was getting better and better. As I said, I’m grateful to the team – Silverstone is our home race and for me it’s like my home race. For me, this one is something special. For tomorrow the plan is to be P1 in qualy and do the same again!”
Swedish team-mate Gustav Malja also produced an impressive drive in the second Strakka car, moving up from ninth on the grid to finish in sixth position – having run as high as fifth at one stage.
Both drivers have climbed the championship standings, Ellinas now in seventh position with Malja in ninth place. In the team standings, Strakka – which is based just a stone’s throw from Silverstone down the A43 – has moved back into the top four.
“Today went OK, I climbed up to sixth but I felt the car had more potential," said Malja, “I would like to thank and congratulate the team. I look forward to doing it again tomorrow."
Starting the event superbly in officially timed practice on Friday, 4th September, Ellinas posted the fastest time of all and went on to deliver the same level of performance in qualifying to bag his first Formula Renault 3.5 Series pole position.
Producing a best time of 1m41.858 seconds (208.2 km/h), he took Strakka onto pole at its home track by 0.2 seconds. Malja, meanwhile, ensured both Strakka cars would begin race one of the weekend inside the top 10 with a time just 0.6 seconds shy of Ellinas’ pole lap – the Swede beginning the contest in ninth.
After his great start, Ellinas led by a full second at the end of the opening lap and as the group behind battled he reeled off a series of fastest lap times to scorch into the distance.
Over 10 seconds to the good after just eight laps, his lead was a remarkable 14.5 seconds by the start of lap 12 and, thereafter, he sensibly focused on making no mistakes to ultimately win by eight seconds after 24 laps.
Malja climbed into eighth on the opening lap and although edged back to ninth on lap five by Egor Orudzhev, the Swede moved back into the top eight on lap 11 when he passed Tom Dillmann on the run down Hangar Straight.
Passing Nicholas Latifi on lap 12 to move into seventh, Malja quickly broke into the top six a lap later at the expense of Orudzhev and then moved up into fifth place on the 16th tour with an impressive move into Village to pass Jazeman Jaafar.
Retaining fifth until three laps from the finish, Malja was edged back to sixth by the recovering Dillmann where he then stayed to the flag on lap 24.
Race 2 Review
Malja takes second points finish of Silverstone weekend in action-packed race two
Strakka Racing claims strong haul of points while first corner contact prevents podium challenge for race one winner Ellinas
Gustav Malja raced to another highly competitive points finish during round 11 of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series at Silverstone this afternoon, Sunday, 6th September, with eighth spot helping consolidate his place in the championship top 10.
Having to start the contest from 11th on grid, due to his quickest time in qualifying – which originally placed him fifth – having been deleted due to a track limits infringement, the Swede produced an impressive performance to cap a consistent weekend for Strakka.
“This was a positive weekend and elements I have been practicing in the run up to the weekend, such as attacking on the pit entry helped us,” said Malja, “The team did a great job at their home race meaning we had good pace in quali and the race and the lads ensure it was a really clean pit stop. I thought I could finish in the top six but I flat spotted the tyre and that meant I just had to bring the car home. Now I can't wait for the Nurburgring, it's a track I have won at, both in the wet and dry.
Team-mate Tio Ellinas, brimming with confidence after his memorable, and thoroughly dominant, victory in round 10 on Saturday, saw hopes of more silverware vanish yards from the start when contact pitched him off the circuit at the first corner.
Mounting a superb recovery, though, the Cypriot did manage to carve his way through into the top 10 after a tremendous effort but ultimately had to settle for 11th when a last lap move on Aurelien Panis at Luffield didn’t work out.
Ellinas commented: “After getting tagged in the first corner, I just got my head down and focussed on overtaking. It was fun carving back up the order but further contact meant I lost the chance for an even better finish."
Off the back of a perfect day on Saturday with his maiden pole position and victory, Ellinas was again in the fight for pole in the round 11 session into the closing stages but ultimately had to settle for the seventh fastest time.
Malja managed to usurp his team-mate by roughly a tenth of a second to secure a top five start for race two but with his quickest time expunged, the Swede actually started the race in 11th with Ellinas moving on to the third row.
From there, Ellinas could justifiably hope to mount a podium bid at the very least but as he headed into Copse off the start, the Strakka car was tipped into a costly spin.
Able to recover, albeit a long way down in last position, Ellinas took an early tyre change and when the race order shook out after the mandatory stops, the strategy had worked a treat as he held 13th position.
Following a mid-race Safety Car period, Ellinas instantly grabbed 12th place and by lap 15 he had broken into the top 10 with a desire for more.
Bottled up behind Panis during the closing stages, Ellinas saw his chance at Luffield on the final lap. Panis had other ideas and, after a spin, for Ellinas, he recovered to finish in 11th place.
From row six on the grid, Malja slipped back to 12th on lap one but soon hit back on the second tour and by the end of lap three he had leapt into ninth position.
Claiming eighth on lap five, after problems for Jazeman Jaafar, Malja then moved into seventh prior to his pit stop. When the race order settled down, the Strakka driver held an excellent sixth place where he remained until three laps from the finish.
After being nudged back to seventh at Brooklands on lap 22, he then slipped behind Nick Yelloly to eighth where he remained to the chequered flag on lap 24.
Following Strakka’s ‘home’ racing meeting, the Silverstone-based squad is fourth in the team standings with 108 points. In the driver standings, Ellinas is seventh with 63 points while Malja is 10th on 45 points.
There is now a quick turnaround for Strakka Racing and the rest of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series paddock with rounds 12 and 13 of the season taking place next weekend, 12th/13th September, at the Nurburgring in Germany.
