The Grid

The 37th edition of the ADAC Rheintalrennen, organised by the RMSC Kirrlach-Wiesenthal im ADAC, marked the season finale of the 2007 Northern European Cup Formula Ranault 2.0. Finnish Koirainen Bros-driver Valtteri Bottas finally scored that long- awaited first victory and then doubled up with another win in the final round of the season. Paul Meijer scored a pair of second places for AR Motorsport, while AKA Cobra Racing's Adam Christodoulou finished third in both events.

Race 1: With temperatures only just above zero degrees Centigrade and a track that was still damp after a cold night, the Northern European Cup Formula Ranault 2.0 kicked off the action on race day at the Hockenheimring Baden-Wurttemberg. All drivers bar David Sigacev opted for rain tyres and there were two formation laps to allow the drivers to get familiar with the situation on the wet track, all previous practice sessions having been held in the dry. Ryan Borthwick (AK Cobra Racing) was unfortunate enough to have to start from the pitlane as his engine stalled as he wanted to set off for the formation lap.

In spite of the early morning hour, the drivers were already wide awake, as they proved with spirited battles and exciting position fights throughout the field. Out in front, there was a nice fight with Nicky Catsburg (MP Motorsport), Steffen Moller (Team Formula Sport), Adam Christodoulou and Paul Meijer virtually changing positions on every lap. Man of the race, however, was a charging Valtteri Bottas. Having started ninth, the flying Finn lived up to his reputation and quickly moved up through the ranks, eventually taking the lead on lap seven. From then on, he made no mistakes and finally drove his maiden victory home.

Paul Meijer complained about massive understeer problems, but still came home second from British driver Adam Christodoulou. Apart from Bottas, whose maiden win was obviously also his best season result to date, there were also best results for Dutchman Nicky Catsburg in fourth place, Nathan Caratti (AKA Cobra Racing) in seventh and Mateusz Adamski (MP Motorsport) in tenth place. The Polish driver had stalled at the start and dropped back to the back of the field, but recovered quickly.

Valtteri Bottas: "Finally, my first victory! This has been a long time coming and I am really glad I pulled it off today. I had a good start, great speed, and everything just fell into place. It all just felt really good and I am very happy."

Paul Meijer: "The start was all right and on the first laps I could pull away. However, I had massive understeer so that I was not only fighting with Bottas, who was catching up very quickly, but also with my car. Eventually, there was nothing I could do to keep Bottas behind me, so I had to make do with second."

Adam Christodoulou: "My start was not very good, but the race was really exciting! There was so much overtaking going on during the first couple of laps that I wasn't able to keep track as to which place I was in. It was good fun and I am happy with my podium finish."

Race 2: For the second race, the final round of the season, the track was still wet after some rain showers earlier on, but rain had stopped. Having qualified second, Paul Meijer had a rather poor start due to lack of grip while Valtteri Bottas made the best use of his pole position and took the lead, well inspired by his win earlier on the day and eager to repeat that success. Gwendolyn Hertzberger (AR Motorsport) showed a remarkable performance. She had qualified 15th, but returned from the opening lap in ninth place, her best effort of the season. However, some unfortunate situations during the race made her drop back again and she eventually came home 15th. MP Motorsport's Nick Catsburg had bad luck, too: he had a good start, but spun and dropped back to 17th. He still gained a few places and finished 12th.

Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas motored on to his second victory of the weekend, winning from Paul Meijer and Adam Christodoulou. Dimitri Rahklin (SL Formula Racing) scored his best season result in fourth from Nathan Caratti. A little bit further down in the field, there was some nice racing going on involving Steffen Moller, Daniel Aho (Koirainen Bros.) and Ryan Borthwick (AKA Cobra Racing) with a couple of position changes.

Valtteri Bottas: "I had a good start and really pushed on my first lap to get ahead of Meijer as he is always fast. Then the team indicated to me that I was six seconds ahead, so I took it a little bit easier and just drove a fast but safe race. As a rookie I am very happy with the overall result of the season and I really enjoyed racing in the NEC Formula Renault 2.0 this year."

Paul Meijer: "I had absolutely no grip at the start. I saw Bottas getting away. After the first race, we changed the set-up of the car so that I had no more understeer. In fact, I even had a little bit of oversteer, but that is easier to drive with. I spun once when I was pushing and didn't take care, but second place is still a good result. I have finished seventh in the champkonship, so I am quite happy."

Adam Christodoulou: "It was a bit of a lonely race for me. I had a good start and once I had overtaken Nathan Caratti I just kept my speed and had my second podium finish this weekend."

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs took his maiden Formula Renault podium when he finished third in the seventh round of the Northern European Cup (NEC) Formula Renault 2.0 at Spa this weekend. The 16 year-old Tonbridge racer backed that up with fourth place in the second race, a remarkable performance on the teenager’s first ever visit to the Belgian Grand Prix circuit.

Driving for the German Motopark Academy team, the MSA British Race Elite/BRDC Rising Star was impressive from the outset, posting the fifth and sixth quickest times in Friday’s two test sessions. “Things started well even on Friday,” he stated. “I’d never been to the track before and in the first session, which was primarily just a chance to learn the track, I set the fifth quickest time. Then, in the second session, we put on new tyres and were still on the pace with the sixth quickest time.

Come Saturday’s qualifying Adrian then set out to show his pace in the last round was no fluke, by turning in the fifth quickest time, making just minor changes to the car ready for the second session. However, his attempts to improve his grid slot for race two were thwarted by a red flag stoppage on his flying lap, sending Adrian and the rest of the field scurrying into the pits.

At the restart, with the whole 28 car field dashing out looking for any last minute opportunities to improve, Adrian was sadly held up in traffic and could only manage the seventh quickest time. “I sat in the pits for a while waiting for the track conditions to be just right and just as I was about to set my quickest lap, the red flag came out. Then when we went back out, I actually had to overtake another car on my flying lap, so seventh wasn’t bad!”

Despite his disappointment at his lowly grid slot, both Sunday’s races produced another great drive from the former T-Car Champion, who shone on only his fourth Formula Renault outing.

In the opening race, Adrian did not make the best of starts, losing three places off the line before retaking a place on the entry to Eau Rouge. A couple more places were gained before the completion of lap one, putting the teenager back on terms with the front runners and another move up the inside at Eau Rouge on lap two soon saw him into third, pulling comfortably away from fourth but unable to catch the second place car.

Race two saw Adrian much stronger at the lights, as he held seventh off the line and moved into sixth before the conclusion of the opening lap. Heading into the hairpin for the first time, Adrian ran side by side with Oliver Oakes and for several laps enjoyed a great battle with the former World Karting Champion, before making a move to take him for fourth and thereafter pulling away to the flag.

“It’s been another great weekend. The entry was really tough again this weekend, and I’m very happy with my own performance against such strong opposition. I’m now really looking forward to next weekend at Estoril when I go back with BVM Minardi for the Formula Renault Eurocup, where I’ll be looking to repeat the form.”

In atrocious conditions, Dutch driver Paul Meijer won the eleventh season round of the Northern European Cup Formula Renault 2.0. at Oschersleben, the AR Motorsport driver won from Motopark Academy's Frank Kechele and Synsam Racing's Pierre Selander . On Sunday, Kechele won from Meijer and Valterri Bottas, whose third place for Koirainen Bros. was a welcome consolation after having spun into retirement on the day before.

Race 1: Torrential rain made it particularly difficult for all competitors, as this was the first totally wet race of the season so far. Because of the avid conditions and the packed programme on the first day of racing at Oschersleben, the clerk of the course decided to shorten the duration of all the races on the Saturday by five minutes each. Poleman Tobias Hegewald took the lead at the start, but soon was deprived of his chances as he was called into the pitlane for a drive-through penalty because of jumping the start. A little further down the order, Russian David Sigacev was given the same penalty for a similar infringement. That handed the lead to Dutchman Paul Meijer, who made his debut in the series after a long absence from motor racing. Once in the lead, he motored on to his first victory of the season and the first success of the year for his team AR Motorsport.

A lot of drivers had a difficult time staying on the track, which was extremely slippery. Most excursions were seen coming out of Oschersleben's notorious triple left-hander. Victims of this corner included Valterri Bottas (Koirainen Bros.), Johan Jokinen (KEO Racing) and Kyrill Ovcharenko (Motopark Academy). On the more positive side, there was a nice battle between Kechele, Selander, Quaife and Hegewald. Kechele finished second from Pierre Selander, whose third place was his best result of the season to date by far. A remarkable performance was shown by Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, who had qualified sixth and finished a creditable fourth in which was only his second-ever race in the Formula Renault 2.0. Hegewald came home fifth after his penalty, followed by the Dutch pairing of Nicky Catsburg (MP Motorsport) and Dennis Swart (Van Amersfoort Racing).

Paul Meijer: "I really enjoyed this race. At the start I was a bit nervous. After all, it had been three years since I drove my last race here. As Hegewald had to come in for his penalty, I was happy to slide to the front because of the enormous spray. I could pull away and stopped pushing when I had a margin of about ten seconds. During the last three laps I drove very cautiously as I really wanted to be back on the top step of the podium."

Frank Kechele: "Qualifying was difficult in the rain. In both qualifying sessions, I damaged my car. During the race I started fourth, I had a good start and could move up into third place as Hegewald came in for his penalty. Then I gained another position as Bottas went into the gravel trap. I pushed hard but also drove a safe race as I wanted to avoid making any mistakes."

Pierre Selander: "I am so happy! This is a wonderful result! I started fifth and had a good

start. When Hegewald and Bottas were no longer in front of me I started pushing a bit because I could see Quaife in my mirror. I have had the best qualifying result and the finish this year and I had a lot of fun driving in the rain. Apparently, the rain really suits me. I am really, really happy!"

Race 2: Other than on the day before, it was completely dry for the second race of the weekend, which even had some sunny spells. Tobias Hegewald couldn't make much out of his pole position as he spun at the start, dropping back to fifth. Frank Kechele, who started second, benefited and took the lead, immediately pulling a gap over the rest of the field. That was also due to Meijer, Bottas and Catsburg losing time while trying to avoid Hegewald's car after his spin. This allowed Kechele a comfortable lead: two laps into the race, he was already seven seconds clear of the rest of the field. After that, he cruised to a safe victory with Meijer second.

The most action in the field was seen from third through ninth place with spirited position fights all the way through the race. Dutch driver, Nick Catsburg, had high hopes after starting fourth, but ran out of luck as he lost control of his car after hitting a kerbstone. He spun and damaged the front section of his car, which forced him into the pits for a replacement. After that, he finished only 21st, but still maintains his sixth place in the championship standings as the best-placed Dutchman. Some young drivers really had a steep learning curve this weekend, driving in very different circumstances in each of the two races. David Sigacev (Lohmann Motorsport), Philip Forsman (Trackstar Racing AB) and Mateusz Adamski (MP Motorsport) all scored personal best results.

Frank Kechele: "At the start, everything just came together, perfect! Hegewald was on the inside and he spun so I could push really hard to make the gap as big as possible. That went very well, even to the extend that after two laps I could not see the rest of the field in my mirror. With a seven seconds' gap I drove a safe race. The only problem I had was that the steering wheel wasn't straight, so I had to keep my mind on the track."

Paul Meijer: "I started third and as Hegewald spun, I moved up one place. However,the gap was too large to keep up with Kechele. I had to keep a safe race pace to maintain my position. Compared to yesterday's race, this one was much more difficult, although yesterday it was very wet. Today, there was significantly more pressure."

Valterri Bottas: "I had a good start but I lost a couple of as Hegewald spun. However, I quickly caught up again. The car felt very good, a little bit of oversteer, but not too much to worry about. I had a mixed weekend. Yesterday I went off and today I am on the podium and did the quickest lap. I am learning that the life of a driver has lots of ups and down and I am dealing with it."

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

The Northern European Cup Formula Renault 2.0 started into the second half of the 2007 season during the ACV Sprint meeting at the Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit. Tobias Hegewald closed up to points leader Frank Kechele with a pair of wins in the Eifel. Kechele finished second on both occasions. Third places went to Oliver Oakes on Saturday and Fabio Onidi on Sunday.

Race 1: Although there were familiar faces up on the podium after the ninth round of the season, the race at the Nurburgring sprint circuit provided plenty of action, especially in the second half of the field. Exciting position fights and battles for every inch of asphalt on the legendary circuit in the Eifel mountains entertained the public, who got to see some fine single-seater racing. Tobias Hegewald made the most of his pole- position and took the lead as the lights turned out. He then drove a flawless race and motored on to claim his second victory of the season, one month after his maiden win at Assen. Hegewald was followed home by championship leader Frank Kechele, who lost some time afte getting his tyres dirty in the opening stages of the race. Third place was occupied by Briton Oliver Oakes. Local team, SL Formula Racing, scored well at the Nurburgring with two drivers in the top ten, Dimitri Raikhlin in seventh and Anton Nebylitskiy in ninth place.

Tobias Hegewald: "My start was good and the first lap went well. But after about four laps Frank Kechele really started pushing so I had to drive on the limit throughout the race. There was no time to relax. In qualifying the difference between numbers 1 and 25 is about 1.7 seconds. That shows how close everything is, so in the race the first few laps are very important."

Frank Kechele: "In motor racing in general and here at this circuit specifically, qualifying is all-important. I had a good start but picked up a bit of rubbish on my tyres, so it was only after a couple of laps that I could really start pushing Tobias. Unfortunately I could not get close enough."

Oliver Oakes: "I have been third now for the 4th time. I had a good start but my two collegues are just a bit faster than me. I really tried but could not close the gap. I really enjoyed the race here, although it was rather uneventful for me."

Race 2: The second race of the weekend provided even more action than the first one, with the drivers very closely together, usually only separated by a few tenths of a second. Sadly, Oliver Oakes wasn't able to enjoy this as he was sidelined with illness. Out in front, Tobias Hegewald repeated his success from the day before by claiming his third season win, again ahead of Frank Kechele, with Fabio Onidi in third, followed home by Brits Adam Christodoulou and Alexander Sims. Dimitri Rahklin wasn't able to continue his good form as he had to come into the pits twice for as many drive-through penalties. Polish driver, Matteusz Adamski, achieved his best result of the season so far by finishing 14th with his year-old car. His fellow-countryman Jakub Giermaziak finished a creditable eighth.

Tobias Hegewald: "It was not an easy race. My start was not the best and throughout the race I had to defend my position from Frank Kechele. He kept on pushing so I had to drive on the limit and could not let my concentration go for a second. But I am very happy with two first places this weekend."

Frank Kechele: "I had a good start. I wanted to catch Tobias as quickly as possible, but made a mistake under braking for the first corner. Tobias drove such a good race and made no mistakes, but I kept on pushing. As I said it is all in the qualifying and the first two laps, especially on this circuit with the long straight."

Oliver Oakes: "It was a difficult race. Even though Oliver Oakes did not start so I went to third place, I braked late for the first corner so I lost some time. Plus my car had understeer, so trying to catch up with Frank and Tobias became very difficult. It was a bit of a lonely race as there was quite a gap with Christodoulou, Sims and Bottas."

For the first time this season, the Northern European Cup Formula Renault 2.0 raced in Germany. At the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, the series had two rounds on the support bill of the prestigious FIA GT championship and thrilled the crowd with a bumper grid of 30 cars, the largest entry of all categories that raced at Oschersleben this weekend. Frank Kechele and Riki Christodoulou were the winners of the two races.

Race 1: German driver, Frank Kechele, started from pole position and led all the way from lights to flag to claim his third victory of the season. It was also an important success for his Motopark Academy team in its home race. Tobias Hegewald completed the 1-2 for the local team by claiming second place, setting the fastest lap time of the race underway. Hegewald inherited second after British driver Dean Smith was disqualified after the race for having jumped the start. His compatriot and Fortec Motorsport team- mate Duncan Tappy saved the honour for Richard Dutton's team by finishing third, one place ahead of his Japanese team-mate Ryuji Yamamoto, with Finn Valtteri Bottas fifth.

Frank Kechele: "The start was perfect. I was a little bit worried about the first corner as it is really tight for so many cars. Dean Smith kept pushing me all the time so I had to be very focused during the whole race. I have to start from third place tomorrow so I had to save my tyres as well. This huge field of cars makes for good racing."

Tobias Hegewald: "My start was not so good, the car had some oversteer and some understeer. Also the wind was bothering me a lot and I could not find the correct brake balance. But all in all I am very satisfied with the result."

Duncan Tappy: "This was my first race abroad and so obviously my first race at Oschersleben. I am very happy with the result though I feel sorry for Dean Smith. I have to thank my mechanic Paul who worked very hard to get my car in order as I had blown my engine during second qualifying."

Race 2: British driver, Riki Christodoulou (Fortec Motorsport) scored his first win of the season and underlined his strong performance by setting the fastest race lap. After 17 laps, he took the chequered flag with a margin of 2.840 seconds over German Frank Kechele, who had claimed second from Valtteri Bottas after the latter was held up while trying to overtake a slower car. Kechele finished second to extend his championship lead, Bottas came home third. Duncan Tappy, who started from the back of the grid after an engine failure in qualifying, had a great recovery to finish eleventh.

Riki Christodoulou: "Everything was perfect. I had the best start I ever made, I drove the best lap I ever drove, it was just awesome!"

Frank Kechele: "My race wasn't as good as yesterday, but I am satisfied with my second place. I took my chance and overtook Bottas for second when he was held up by a slower car. I am happy with my lead in the championship after two weekends."

Valtteri Bottas: "I had a good start and I really tried hard to win, but I couldn't catch the two guys in front of me. But keeping in mind that this was only my second weekend of racing, it is great being runner-up in the points' standings."

Race 1: 1. Frank Kechele (Ger, Motopark Academy), 17 laps in 25:02.173, 2. Tobias Hegewald (Ger, Motorsport Arena), 2.077, 3. Duncan Tappy (GBr, Fortec Motorsport), 3.128, 4. Ryuji Yamamoto (Jap, Fortec Motorsport), 9.634, 5. Valtteri Bottas (Fin, Koiranen Bros.), 10.332, 6. Riki Christodoulou (GBr, Fortec Motorsport), 11.082. 7. Fabio Onidi (Ita, Motorsport Arena), 13.408, 8. Steffen Moeller (Den, Formula Sport), 14.516, 9. Alexander Haegermark (Swe, Alexander Haegermark), 18.045, 10. Stef Dusseldorp (Ned, Van Amersfoort), 21.913.

Race 2: 1. Riki Christodoulou (GBr, Fortec Motorsport), 17 laps in 24.59.785, 2. Frank Kechele (Ger, Motopark Academy), 2.840, 3. Valtteri Bottas (Fin, Koiranen Bros), 3.067, 4. Tobias Hegewald (Ger, Motorsport Arena), 6.703, 5. Oliver Oakes (GBr, Motopark Academy), 9,063, 6. Nicky Catsburg (Ned, MP Motorsport), 21.927, 7. Steffen Moeller (Den, Formula Sport), 22.494, 8. Joonas Mannerjavi (Fin, Motopark Academy), 27.741, 9. Joonas Kostiainen (Fin, Koiranen Bros), 38.652, 10. Dennis Retera (Ned, AR Motorsport), 47.576.

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