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Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup
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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