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Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup
Ricciardo wins the WEC
Australian
Daniel Ricciardo’s (SG Formula) victory in the first race on the
Barcelona circuit followed by second place in race no.2 in the final
round of the season assured him of the first title in the Formula
Renault West European Cup. Victory in the second race (last one of the
season) went to his team-mate Andrea Caldarelli.
Race 1
In qualifying Daniel
Ricciardo earned himself another point by setting pole yet again.
Alongside him on the front row was his SG Formula team-mate Andrea
Caldarelli with Jean-Eric Vergne and Roberto Mehri on row 2.
Ricciardo went into the lead straight away from Caldarelli and Mehri who
got past Vergne on the exit from the first corner. Tristan Vautier moved
up a place to fifth by passing Nico Müller (Jenzer Motorsport). The
Australian began to draw away from his pursuers Caldarelli and Mehri. On
lap 3 Vautier made a mistake in the chicane and Müller and Albert Costa
(Epsilon Euskadi) drew level with him looking for a gap. They then
collided on the pit straight and hit the pit wall after which Costa ran
into Antony Tardieu (Pole Service) bringing out the safety car.
Ricciardo held on to his lead at the restart with Caldarelli and Mehri
on his gearbox. The Australian upped the pace and drew away from his
rivals. Behind these three there was a lively scrap going on mid field
leading to a collision between Benjamin Lariche (Pole Services) and
Miguel Ortegui (1Quick).
Riciardo went on to score his eight victory of the season from
Caldarelli, and Mehri. This result put the man from down under back in
the lead in the Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup. Before the last
race of the year 5 points separated the 2 drivers. The double gave SG
Signature the teams’ title.
Jean-Eric Vérgne saw the flag in fourth place, the first of the rookies,
and this result earned him the title of Best Rookie of the Year. It was
his second success just a week after winning the FFSA Formula Renault
2.0 Championship.
Race 2
Ricciardo was on pole for this decisive race. He had to increase
his 5-point lead to make sure of winning the Formula Renault 2.0 West
European Cup. Mehri was in fifth slot on the grid and had to his utmost
to make up lost ground.
Caldarelli made a perfect start to shoot into the lead from Müller (Jenzer
Motorsport), Ricciardo and Mehri who quickly overtook Müller to slot
into second and third places. Costa (Epsilon Euskadi) who had started
from seventh place on the grid was up into fifth.
Ricciardo set the fastest lap of the race and pulled in Caldarelli with
Mehri not far behind. To win the title the Spaniard had to pass both SG
Formula drivers. Müller in fourth was coming under pressure from Costa,
Vautier and Vergne (SG Formula). The positions then stabilised as the
Italian and the Australian fended off Mehri’s attacks. Behind these
three Müller had the measure of his pursuers led by Costa.
Caldarelli finished on a high note with his third victory of the season.
Ricciardo’s second place was good enough to give him the first title in
the history of the Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup, no matter what
the outcome of the protest lodged by Epsilon Euskadi after the second
race at Magny-Cours will be.
Ricciardo’s team SG Formula won the teams’ classification. Vergne was
the best rookie of the year and FFSA French Champion, while Max Lefèvre
won the Challenger Cup.
Daniel Ricciardo: “Winning here has been a great reward. It makes up for
my disappointment in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. It’s been a very
positive season with eight victories in the WEC and six in the Eurocup.
Today I didn’t make a great start and luckily I was able to get past
Müller very quickly. I knew I had to set the fastest lap in the race to
feel comfortable. The car was perfect. I lifted off towards the end. It
wasn’t possible to go quicker than Andea here today. I’m over the moon
this evening!”
Andrea Caldarelli: “Finishing the season with a victory is very
positive. That’ll help me prepare for next season in a calm state of
mind. This year I’ve proved that I’m a steady consistent driver.”
Roberto Mehri: “I had to win today’s race, but it didn’t work out that
way. We lost the title in qualifying. We made a few mistakes and the car
wasn’t at its best; it improved in the last race. Overall, it’s been a
very positive season for me, and I think I’ve proved a lot. It’s always
a good sign when you’re fighting for the title right till the very end!”
Roberto Mehri takes the championship lead!
Roberto Mehri
(Epsilon Euskadi) put himself in a strong position for the title after
Magny-Cours where he took over first place in the Formula Renault 2.0
West European Cup. Although the Spaniard led both races he almost lost
everything on Saturday and Sunday. The championship showdown will be on
the Barcelona circuit with only three points separating Mehri and Daniel
Ricciardo (SG Formula).
The duel between
Daniel Ricciardo and Roberto Mehri began in qualifying. The Spaniard was
racing on a circuit on which he feels particularly at ease and bagged
pole. When the lights went out he made a blinding start and was well
protected by his team-mate Albert Costa who fended off the SG Formula
drivers.
The two Spaniards led the field at the end of lap 1 from Jean-Eric
Vergne, Tristan Vautier (SG Formula), Andrea Caldarelli and Daniel
Ricciardo who missed his braking for Adelaide and fell from third to
sixth place.
Mehri and Costa drove a perfect team race and increased their lead each
time round. Jean-Eric Vergne was hanging on to third place for dear life
and had to repulse the attacks of his team-mates Vautier, Caldarelli and
Ricciardo. It was all the more important for him to stay in front; as by
beating Vautier he was on course to win the FFSA French Formula Renault
2.0 Championship.
The race came to a dramatic end. With just a few laps to go Mehri lost
it in the Nürburgring corner due to a technical failure. The nut on his
left-hand rear wheel came off and cut through the rim. The Spaniard’s
accident forced Race Control to hang out the red flag on lap 14. As laid
down in the regulations the classification was that of lap 12. This
meant that Mehri won from Costa and Vergne whose third place was good
enough to give him the FFSA French Formula Renault 2.0 Championship
ahead of Vautier.
Mehri was on pole again on Sunday. Caldarelli made the best start but
Roberto got back in front almost immediately. Costa also squeezed past
the Italian on the run in to Adelaide to slot into second place.
Mehri gradually drew away from his team-mate who had his hands full
staying in front of the SG drivers led by Caldarelli. The latter never
gave up and maintained the pressure on Costa. The positions changed on
the second-last lap. Mehri’s car was becoming increasingly difficult to
handle due to damaged steering and both Costa and Caldarelli overtook
him. On the last lap the Spaniard managed to hold off Ricciardo, Vautier,
Vergne and Bastien Borget.
In the final corner Caldarelli made a do or die attack on Costa who
wasn’t expecting such a move, and the Italian won his second race of the
season by a whisker. Mehri crossed the line in third place and took the
lead in the Formula Renault West European Cup.
The results of the race are still provisional following a protest
against Caldarelli’s and Ricciardo’s cars.
Roberto Mehri: “Everything was going well. I was leading the race, but I
don’t know what happened. My steering wheel suddenly wasn’t straight any
more and I could hardly turn right. I’m disappointed as I should have
won that race, and victory was very important in the context of the
overall classification. It’ll all be decided in Barcelona and I hope
I’ll have no more problems with my car there.”
Ricciardo and Mehri share the spoils in Portugal
The first two in
the overall Formula Renault West European Cup classification left
Portugal just 16 points apart. In Estoril Australian Daniel Ricciardo (SG
Formula) and Spaniard Roberto Mehri (Epsilon Euskadi) scored a victory
and a rostrum finish each. The next round is this coming weekend on the
magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.
Race 1
Albert Costa (Epsilon Euskadi) on pole crept forward before the lights
went out and then remained stuck on the grid. Daniel Ricciardo took
advantage of this to hit the front from Jean-Eric Vergne (SG Formula)
and Roberto Mehri. Andrea Calderelli (SG Formula) was eliminated
immediately when his left-hand rear wheel was torn off.
Ricciardo and Vergne set the pace and tried to open up a gap over Mehri
who was under threat from Tristan Vautier (SG Formula). A little further
back came Daniel McKenzie leading a tightly-packed group of pursuers.
The positions up front stabilised and Ricciardo opened up a gap of
almost 2 seconds over his team-mate Vergne who was 2 seconds ahead of
Mehri. There were no changes in the first three until the chequered
flag. Behind, there was a no-holds-barred scrap for fifth place, and at
the very end of the race Jake Rosenzweig (Epsilon Euskadi) passed Miki
Monros (SG Formula) and Daniel McKenzie.
Race 2
Daniel Ricciardo was on pole but Roberto Mehri shot past him in the
first corner. Next up were Albert Costa and Tristan Vautier.
Costa attacked Ricciardo but the Australian wasn’t having any and hung
on to his second place. Mehri took advantage of this to pull away.
Vergne and Caldarelli were at it hammer and tongs in the pack. The
Frenchman retook sixth place at the end of the pits straight.
At half distance Mehri seemed to have the race under control and was
over 2 seconds ahead of Ricciardo. The leader of the WEC was no longer
under threat from Costa who was 2 seconds behind. In fourth was Vautier
followed by Rosenzweig under pressure from Vergne.
And so Mehri scored his first victory of the season from Ricciardo who
is still in first place in the overall Formula Renault 2.0 WEC
Championship. Vautier took a rostrum finish by passing Costa on the last
lap with a few corners to go to the chequered flag.
Roberto Mehri: “At last I’ve won a WEC race. I made a good start yet
again and I went into the lead. Then I pushed hard to open up a gap. Our
car was very quick. There are several races left in the WEC so I’ve
still got enough time to close the gap to the leader.
Daniel Ricciardo: “It’s been a positive weekend in Formula Renault WEC.
I feel pretty confident for Spa-Francorchamps on which I won in Eurocup.
I hope it’ll be the same again. It’s not easy to race in two
championships at the same time. I just have to take the races one after
another without thinking about anything else.”
Tristan Vautier: “I’m really happy to be back on the rostrum. I caught
Costa at the end of the race and I managed to get past him on the last
lap. I’m delighted. I’d like to thank the whole team as we’ve all done a
good job at SG Formula. My next aim is to win a race!”
Le Mans –
Race
Ricciardo walks on water!
Whether in the wet
or in the dry Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula) is the man to beat in the
Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup. The Australian scored his fifth
victory of the season after a good scrap with his team-mate Jean-Eric
Vergne (SG Formula). The Frenchman fought off the attacks of Mathieu
Arzeno (Epsilon Sport) and Roberto Merhi (Epsilon Euskadi) at the end of
the race. Mehri grabbed third spot on the last lap thanks to a daring
bit of driving
Daniel Ricciardo
set his sixth pole of the season and shared the front row with his
team-mate Andrea Caldarelli (SG Formula), while on the second were
Jean-Eric Vergne and Roberto Mehri.
The track was damp but several drivers including Albert Costa (Epsilon
Euskadi), Richard Campollo (Epsilon Euskadi), Maxime Jousse (Pole
Service), Stéphane Richelmi (Epsilon Sport), Bastien Borget (Epsilon
Sport) and Miko Monras (Hitech Junior team) stood out by opting for
slicks!
Jean-Eric made a blinding start going from third to first. Mathieu
Arzeno (Epsilon Sport) also tried to find a way past but missed his
braking for the first chicane. The rest of the pack got through without
problems. At the end of the first lap the order was: Jean-Eric Vergne,
Daniel Ricciardo, Mathieu Arzeno, Tristan Vautier (SG Formula), Andrea
Caldarelli and Roberto Mehri.
Vergne and Ricciardo, who were nose to tail, began to open up a small
gap while Caldarelli tripped up and lost several places. The Italian’s
mistake left Arzeno, Vautier and Mehri battling for third spot. The
Spaniard managed to split the two Frenchmen after passing Vautier fourth
time round.
Up front Ricciardo began to up the pressure on Vergne and both were
using all the track and then some to try and find grip! The battle
between the two SG drivers was a thrilling spectacle. Then Vergne braked
a little too late and his Australian rival made his move. They took
several corners side-by-side until Ricciardo finally hit the front on
lap 10.
He went on to score his fifth victory of the season from his team-mate,
Vergne, who was on the rostrum for the first time this year winning the
FFSA French Formula Renault 2.0 Championship. But Jean-Eric had to fight
off the attacks of Mathieu Arzeno and Roberto Mehri as the race neared
its end. The Spaniard took third place in the last corner edging out
Arzeno. David Zollinger (Palmyr team) won the Challenge Cup.
Daniel Ricciardo: “It’s been a long summer and I was hungry for victory.
It was a long, tough race. Jean-Eric made a super start so I stayed
behind him for a few laps to see where would be the best spot to
overtake. It was very tight. He went a bit wide in the first chicane and
I made my move. We took a few corners side by side; it was like driving
karts!”
Jean-Eric Vergne: “It’s my first rostrum finish of the season, and I’m
happy that it’s at Le Mans
For once I made a
good start. When I was in front I made a few mistakes and Daniel got
ahead of me. We then lifted off a little and the others took advantage
to close the gap. The last lap was pretty hairy!”
Roberto Mehri: “I made a really bad getaway. After a few laps I upped
the pace and at the end of the race I was the quickest driver on the
track. I really went for it on the last lap. Since the restart I’ve
finished all my races on the rostrum!”
Ricciardo maintains his stranglehold
Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula), who dominated his rivals on
the Valencia circuit in Spain, maintained his stranglehold on the
Formula Renault 2.0 WEC despite being excluded from the second race. The
weekend also saw Benjamin Lariche (Pole Services) score his first
victory.
Race 1
For the fourth time this season Daniel Ricciardo was on pole ahead of
his team-mate Andrea Caldarelli. Daniel made a perfect start while
Andrea had to fight off Roberto Merhi (Epsilon Euskadi) who drew level
with him under braking for the first corner. The Italian emerged in
second place and promptly made a mistake allowing Merhi to pass.
The order at the end of lap 1 was: Daniel Ricciardo, Roberto Merhi,
Andrea Caldarelli, Jean-Eric Vergne (SG Formula), Anton Nebilitsky (SG
Formula), Richard Campollo (Epsilon Euskadi), Gabriel Dias (Fortec
Motorsport), Albert Costa (Epsilon Euskadi), Richard Singleton (Hitech
Junior) and Julien Abelli (TCS Racing). Ricciardo pushed really hard in
the opening stages and opened up a decisive gap over his pursuers.
After a poor qualifying session Albert Costa fought his way up through
the field. He sliced past Dias and Campollo to take sixth place and then
caught Anton Nebilitsky. Despite launching attack after attack he was
unable to find a way past the SG Formula driver.
Race 2
After the second qualifying session Roberto Merhi thought he had pole
sewn up for the first time this season. But the Spaniard’s three
quickest times were cancelled after a protest by SG Formula, as he had
failed to respect the track limits. This dropped him down to
twenty-seventh place on the grid and gave Daniel Ricciardo his fifth
pole of the year.
When the lights went out Ricciardo shot to the front just ahead of
Benjamin Lariche who made a lightning getaway from the second row. They
finished the first lap in that order ahead of Andrea Caldarelli,
Jean-Eric Vergne, Albert Costa, Himar Acosta (I Quick), Mathieu Arzeno
(Epsilon Sport), Miki Monras (Hitech Junior) Gabriel Dias and Anton
Nebilitsky.
Ricciardo opened up a gap in his usual style and pulled away from
Lariche at around a second per lap. On lap 5, Costa snatched fourth
place from Jean-Eric Vergne. While this was going on Roberto Merhi was
making a spectacular comeback and was up in eighth place after 11 laps!
The closing stages of the race were enlivened by a battle between
Acosta, Monras and Merhi. Monras took sixth spot on the third from last
lap and Merhi also shot past Acosta. The ultimate twist came in the
final corners when Caldarelli took advantage of an error by Lariche to
snatch second!
After the race Epilson Euskadi protested three SG Formula cars (Daniel
Ricciardo, Andrea Caldarelli and Jean-Eric Vergne) for an illegal rear
wing pillar. The Stewards upheld the protest and excluded the three
drivers from the result of the race. Provisional victory went to Bernard
Lariche as SG Formula appealed against the decision of the Stewards, so
the final result depends on the RFDA Court of Appeal’s decision.
Ricciardo takes the lead
 Daniel
Ricciardo (SG Formula)- seen following Mehri right)
won the two races on the Dijon-Prénois circuit putting him into the lead
in the West European Formula Renault 2.0 Cup. The Australian has already
staked a claim on the title by winning three out of the four races held
so far. Roberto Mehri’s (Epsilon Euskadi) two second places in Burgundy
give him second place in the Cup just in front of Andrea Caldarelli (SF
Formula).
Race 1
As soon as the red lights went out, pole-sitter Roberto Mehri managed to
stay in front of his team-mate Albert Costa (Epsilon Euskadi). Behind
these two Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne (SG Formula) were unable
to fend off Andrea Caldarelli.
After 9 laps, Mehri was 1.5s in front of Costa. The outcome of the race,
though, was far from being decided as Ricciardo was gradually edging
closer to the leading duo. A fair way behind the leading trio was a
group consisting of three other SG Formula drivers: Caldarelli, Vergne
and Nebilitskiy.
At the start of lap 13, Ricciardo took second place and set off after
Mehri and a lap later was right on his gearbox. Caldarelli had slashed
the gap between himself and Costa and was harrying the SG driver.
Mehri was struggling with his worn tyres and was unable to fight off
Ricciardo who muscled by into the lead on lap 15. The cars touched and
Mehri suffered a puncture on one of his rear tyres. Costa was battling
with the same problem as Mehri and could not prevent Caldarelli from
taking second.
The abrasive track surface combined with the scorching heat led to
premature tyre wear. Race Control decided to stop the race after 18 laps
to avoid punctures that could have led to accidents, and in compliance
with the regulations the classification after 16 laps was the final one.
Ricciardo won from Mehri, Costa (1st rookie) Caldarelli and Vergne.
Race 2
It was still scorching hot in Burgundy and as a safety measure the
duration of race 2 was reduced to 20 minutes plus 1 lap to prevent
excessive tyre wear. Ricciardo suffered a little wheelspin at the start
but managed to hold on to the lead in the first corner from Mehri,
Caldarelli and Costa. Costa went wide, took a brief trip through the
gravel trap losing several places in the process.
At the end of lap 1 Ricciardo led from Mehri, Nebilitskiy, Vergne and
Caldarelli.
The two leaders opened up a gap over their pursuers with Ricciardo still
in front of Mehri. Behind, a no-holds battle raged between the SG
drivers for third place. The Russian Nebilitskiy tried as best he could
to fend off his team-mates Vergne and Caldarelli. At the start of lap 8,
Caldarelli got the better of Vergne for fourth place and homed in on
Nebilitskiy.
With fifteen minutes gone the positions were
stable. The gap between Ricciardo and Mehri remained the same until the
finish. The struggle for third place between Nebilitskiy and Caldarelli
was far from over, though. The Italian launched a final attack on the
Russian but was unable to get past. Vergne’s fifth place gave him the
title of first rookie.
Daniel Ricciardo: “It’s been a perfect weekend. I’ve harvested the
maximum number of points and I’m leading the WEC. Today, I was a little
bit too cautious at the start although I managed to stay in front but it
was close. Then I kept up a good pace and opened up a gap. At the end
Roberto seemed to be a bit quicker so I was pretty happy to see the
chequered flag! I’ll have to continue like that in Valencia, a circuit I
know well and like very much.”
Roberto Mehri: “Overall, it’s been a good weekend as I’ve scored points.
The WEC is leaving France and we’re off to Spain. On home turf in
Valencia I hope I’ll be able to take the initiative.”
Résults & classifications:
www.frwec.com (soon in english!)
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