Photos: DPPI

It happened two years later than planned, but the Formula Renault Eurocup is now officially no more after last weekend’s Paul Ricard races. What does that mean for FRenault’s future, and what to make of its past?

The full history of Formula Renault stretches back 50 years to 1971, when French FRenault took the place of Formula France. It kept that series’ open-chassis formula, but with all designs having to fit a spec Renault engine in, and ran a 22-race inaugural season which incorporated three French Grand Prix venues.

Drivers in Alpine, Martini and Tecno cars won races that year, and it was Michel Leclere who won the very first race at Albi and then the title in an Alpine chassis. A relationship that had begun with the marque in FFrance continued into FRenault and then French Formula 3, where Leclere was 1972 champion, and he stayed with Alpine when he progressed to Formula 2.

Defecting to March for his second F2 season brought more success, but he then returned to Alpine and claimed a famous win from 19th on the grid at the Salzburgring in his Renault-powered car.

Alpine was influential at the start of FRenault’s life, and in Renault’s participation in all levels of single-seaters in the 1970s, and it’s influence has returned in 2020 as the Renault Formula 1 team rebrands itself to Alpine for next year. This was one of the accelerating factors in merging the Eurocup, which has run since 1991, with its Regional F3 rival Formula Regional European Championship for next year. In FREC’s new era, Renault’s engines will be used with an Alpine badge.

FRenault started off as a 1.3-litre formula, but boosted engine sizes to 1.6L for its second season in France, and then to 1721cc units in 1989. It adopted 2.0L regulations in 1995, and it was these road car-sourced engines that sent the category global, with FR2.0 the basis of 15 national championships in three continents, as well as the Eurocup’s Asian counterpart.

Alpine cars aren’t sold in Asia, where the last remaining official FR2.0 series is. Formula Scout can reveal that the Formula Renault Asiacup, which had already been reduced to a single round at Zhuhai in December by the coronavirus pandemic, has now been cancelled in its entirety for 2020 due to customs restrictions.

It tried to follow the Eurocup this year in leaving the FR2.0 category to instead cater for the FIA’s Regional F3 regulations, but didn’t make a success of it like the Eurocup did. The idea was for Asian F3 teams to use their Tatuus T-318 cars in the FR Asiacup during that championship’s off-season, swapping out their Alfa Romeo engines for Renault ones to do so, while grids also remained open to those with the latest generation of FR2.0 machinery.

The series landed a Vietnamese Grand Prix support slot, and the Renault ‘Road to Champion’ scheme evolved to reward the best Hong Kong-born driver in the points with a drive in the next Motorsport Games Formula 4 Cup. COVID-19 put paid to all of that, with the introduction of F3 cars swiftly pushed back to 2021 after so little pick-up by Asian F3 or Asiacup teams.

The existing Asiacup teams had to sell their FR2.0 cars to afford the upgrade, but there wasn’t much of a market to sell to even before the pandemic, and the Asiacup had already conceded to allowing the older generation FR2.0 cars back in.

When Renault originally attempted to pull the plug on the Eurocup at the end of 2018 after losing out on the FIA’s tender to be the ‘official’ Regional F3 series in Europe – before deciding to crack on with a F3 series of its own anyway – it signed contracts with the Asiacup and Northern European Cup organisers to maintain their Renault Sport support for two more seasons.

The renamed Formula NEC looked like it would benefit strongly from the move, with the Eurocup vacating FR2.0 surely meaning drivers without the budget for F3 would flock there. It even had a support slot at the Pau Grand Prix. But there was no driver interest and the series closed its doors two months just three months after its season finale.

The series manager said to Formula Scout at the time that this left 40 race-ready FR2.0 cars with nowhere to go.

A 2019 season did go ahead in Asia, albeit with only five full-time entries, but the loss of the 2020 season doesn’t mean an end to Renault support. FR Asiacup told Formula Scout that not only will it have another two years of manufacturer backing, but it will also maintain the FRenault name. So if, as expected, the Asian F3 teams don’t come flocking in and the Asiacup teams don’t sell on their FR2.0 stock, then FRenault as a category will live on into a new decade.

All-time FR2.0 France/Western European Cup statistics

There’s also a new series in Europe that seems to have successfully catered for both of FRenault’s modern identities, but enough about the future. Back to the very beginning, and the drivers and circuits that put FRenault on the map…

The increase in engine capacity to 1.6L for French FRenault’s second season in 1972 had surprisingly little effect on the competitive order, with the Alpine and Martini runners still evenly matched in cars where getting the most out of the engine and having the right suspension contributed most to laptime as there were no aerodynamic appendages.

This time it was Martini-driving Jacques Laffite, already a factory Ligier driver and soon after a winner in the World Endurance Championship and then F1, who claimed the title ahead of Alpine runner Alain Cudini.

Such was French FRenault’s popularity that there was already a sister series that year, and Cudini struck back against Laffite in the first season of the Formula Renault European Challenge. This was the Eurocup before the Eurocup existed.

Four French rounds had been packed into the first two weeks of May before most of the paddock headed to Spanish Grand Prix venue Jarama for the first ever FR Euro Challenge race, which was won by Cudini.

He did it again a week later at Jyllandsringen in Denmark, a country never visted again by continental FRenault racing.

Laffite won round three at Hockenheim, but Cudini claimed the title by winning the Paul Ricard season finale. It was that circuit, on the same day, that Laffite beat Cudini to win the French title.

The French series was dropped for 1973 and ’74, the only times it would not be held until it folded in early 2010 (by then under the FR2.0 Western European Cup name) when the combination of an unpopular new spec car from Barazi-Epsilon, the global financial crisis and the closing of its two biggest teams led to a reported bankruptcy.

FR Euro Challenge had F1 support slots by its second season, and added Belgium, Italy, Great Britain and Monaco to its calendar. It remained a French driver’s domain though, with not a single international driver making the top 10 in the points during its six-season run.

Rear wings appeared on cars in 1975, with aerodynamics appearing ahead of the front wheels shortly after.

Rene Arnoux, who won the title on victory countback against future Ferrari F1 team-mate Patrick Tambay in 1973, and Didier Pironi were both double champions, and Alain Prost claimed the final series crown in 1977.

A year earlier Prost dominated the French championship, winning the first 12 rounds and only being beaten to victory once, by Patrick Piget in the Imola season finale.

Victor Rosso won the first Argentinian title in 1980, and a year later American Kurt Thiel became the first non-Frenchman to win in Europe with victory in a French round at the Nurburgring.

Six years later compatriot Ron Emmick also broke the top 10 in the points, and when FRenault UK was created in 1989 it meant there was finally another nationality other than France or Argentina on the top step in a FRenault race. Britain’s Neil Riddiford won most of the races, but South African Gino Ussi also took a victory.

This was end of France’s totalitarian grip on the category, as it was exported to Germany, the Netherlands and Spain in 1991 and the top drivers from the five national series got together for three races that marked the start of the FR Eurocup.

That start was immediately dominated by a Britain, with future British Touring Car Championship legend Jason Plato winning the first ever two races for Van Diemen, before France’s Pierre Derode struck back in his Alpa in the final encounter.

All-time Formula Renault European Challenge statistics

Wins (drivers)		Wins (makes)	Points
D Pironi 22	J Coche 2	Martini 79	Pironi 558	S Saulnier 213
R Arnoux 15	J Laffite 1	Alpine 9	Snobeck 504	Tambay 167
A Couderc 10	M Bochet 1	Lola 7	Dallest 405	Prost 157
D Snobeck 9	R Dallest 1	Eurocup	Sourd 359	Ragnotti 148
A Cudini 6		Tatuus 304	Arnoux 326	P Piget 147
P Tambay 6		Barazi-Epsilon 44	Couderc 300	C Michy 113
A Prost 6		Van Diemen 15	J-L Bousque 234	Bochet 92
M Sourd 5		Alpa 11	Cudini 231	P Langlois 92
J Ragnotti 4		Martini 8	Coche 223	X Mathiot 85
J Coulon 3		Mygale 3	Coulon 218	C Ethuin 67

British team Manor won the inaugural Spanish FRenault title with Antonio Albecete too, while Fortec Motorsports established itself as a single-seater force with back-to-back UK titles.

The Eurocup ran once again in a loosely connected three-race format in 1992, with Spanish champion Ricardo Galiano winning on home turn at Jarama, FRenault Germany runner-up Patrick Bernhardt did the same at the Nurburgring, and then Pedro de la Rosa being named overall ‘champion’ by defeating the best of the French runners at Estoril in Portugal.

As each series grew in stature, the decision was made to formalise the separate pan-European championship so it would visit all the countries now represented by their own teams.

The 1993 season kicked off at Barcelona, at that point still a fairly new venue, where Synergie Automobiles’s Olivier Couvreur started a run of wins that took him to the first ‘proper’ Eurocup title.

Two-race rounds were introduced in 1994, with Manor’s James Matthews sweeping the very first, also at Barcelona.

There was an even more important change to the series in 1995, as it became FR2.0. Two decades before becoming European Rallycross champion, Norway’s Tommy Rustad drove a RC Motorsport-run Tatuus to victory at Spa-Francorchamps, and that also marked the start of a new era as the Italian chassis builder grew in popularity.

In 1999 every winner used a Tatuus, and so it made logical sense for the marque’s next design to become the spec chassis for the Eurocup and its national counterparts.

That partnership lasted a decade in Europe, before Barazi-Epsilon took over in 2010. The French company only lasted three years in the position, with Tatuus making a popular return in 2013 with a car still used the world over today.

However, national FR2.0 series had all but gone by this point. The Dutch and German championships joined in 2006 to become FR NEC, the Swiss and Italian series merged to become FR2.0 Alps in 2011, and Estonia, France, Portugal, Scandinavia, Spain and the UK’s championships had all died out. FR2.0 mostly disappeared from the Americas too.

The Eurocup’s expanding calendar, and attractiveness, made contesting other FR2.0 series an unnecessary use of budget unless drivers were looking for additional mileage or an easier level of competition. All the more so when Renault decided drivers could only be registered for points in one series at a time.

In its final two seasons, FR NEC crowned champions with a best finish of third and eighth respectively, as the front of the field was occupied by drivers who were only totting up the points in their Eurocup campaigns.

FRenault 1.6 had also been created as a sub-category of FRenault by this point and had established itself across Europe as an entry-level formula for budding car racers. France called its series Formula 4 before actually adopting FIA F4 regulations in 2018, FR1.6 NEC ran to 2014, and Scandinavia actually continues to run its championship without Renault support – albeit after totally relaunching it last year following the bankruptcy of the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship during winter.

Taking into account all of the official FR2.0 and FR1.6 series that have taken place over the last 50 years, who were the drivers that made the biggest impact?

While Matthews today only makes headlines for being married to the sister of a princess or his role in the new ownership of the Williams F1 team, his junior racing career was hugely impressive and he was the Eurocup’s most successful driver through the 1990s and 2000s.

He was also a four-time winner in the French series, and he scored more wins than anyone else during FR2.0 UK’s 23-year existence. His tally of 16 wins was three more than what was achieved by F1 great Lewis Hamilton.

All-time Formula Renault Eurocup statistics

Wins (drivers)		Wins (teams)	Points
V Martins 15	M Ammermuller 6	R-ace GP 44	Martins 846.5	Speed 370
K Korjus 9	K Kobayashi 6	Koiranen GP 33	Colombo 537	Shwartzman 360
D Kvyat 9	D Ricciardo 6	J Kaufmann 28	C Collet 511	Y Ye 345.5
S Fenestraz 9	J Aitken 6	Tech 1 24	Fenestraz 487	S Vandoorne 337
J Matthews 8	R Shwartzman 6	MP 23	M Defourny 471.5	Matthews 336
E Bernoldi 8	L Colombo 6	Manor 22	de Vries 445	S Pagenaud 336
S Speed 8	E Salignon 5	JD 22	Fewtrell 439.5	A Smolyar 312
N de Vries 7	J Lancaster 5	Motopark 22	Piastri 430	Salignon 304
M Fewtrell 7	V Bottas 5	SG Formula 21	Kvyat 389	Aitken 292
O Piastri 7	A Costa 5	Epsilon Euskadi 19	W Palmer 374	O Rowland 288

Javier Diaz was a two-time Spanish champion in the ’90s, but he didn’t race abroad like Matthews did so it was hard to judge his skill against that decade’s best.

Nyck de Vries took a long time to find the conditions for success, but when he did he broke records in FR2.0 Alps and notched up a lot of Eurocup wins. However, the wait for that success stands against him. Other Italy/Alps graduates include Kamui Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado, who had differing fortunes when it came to Eurocup success. Toyota junior Kobayashi’s comeback to win the 2005 title certainly made him stand out to the wider world.

Perhaps FRenault’s all-time great is 1977 French champion Joel Gouhier or his immediate predecessor Prost, who competed at the peak of the category’s Francophile period but still won a lot while at it.

The French theme isn’t just historic though, because the final ever Eurocup champion Victor Martins can also make a claim to be one of the best. He not only won as a rookie in a stacked field in the last year of FR2.0’s use, but he then mastered the series’ switch to Regional F3 rules and ultimately won 15 races in his three Eurocup seasons. Admittedly, this has come with the benefit of 20-race seasons in all three of those years.

Some drivers came through FR2.0 too quickly to build up impressive stats, with Robin Frijns for example turning up to FR2.0, winning the Eurocup title at his first attempt and getting the scholarship prize to step up to Formula Renault 3.5, where he won the title as a rookie too. That series fell in much the same way that FR2.0 and FR1.6 has, with the FIA’s own system of numerical junior formulaes taking over the market space.

Kimi Raikkonen did similar, winning the FR2.0 UK title as a rookie and then being picked up by Sauber to go straight to F1.

Despite the expansion of F3 and F4, teams have stayed loyal to Renault and its series. Manor’s 1990s success was followed by wins in the 2010s as a partner to MP Motorsport, and JD Motorsport was a regular winner in the open-chassis days.

It had a long winless spell, with some small reprieve via Chris van der Drift in 2006, but had to wait until the Regional F3 era to become a frontrunning Eurocup force again. It won the very first race under the new rulebook in 2019, and ran Spanish single-seater rookie David Vidales to a historic double win at Imola on his car racing debut this year.

Despite Vidales’ success coming at the very start of his career, the 18-year-old isn’t close to the top 10 list of youngest winners, with the record actually being held by Ugo de Wilde – who claimed JD’s sole 2019 win at Monza.

Seven other drivers have joined de Wilde in winning a Eurocup race before their 17th birthday, while Tom Blomqvist – son of World Rally champion Stig – was a FR2.0 Sweden winner aged 15 years, 8 months and 23 days.

Youngest ever winners of a Formula Renault Eurocup race

Ugo de Wilde, Belgium – 16 years, 4 months and 24 days
Lando Norris, England – 16 years, 5 months and 3 days
Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain – 16 years, 7 months and 15 days
George Russell, England – 16 years, 8 months and 4 days
Christian Lundgaard, Denmark – 16 years, 8 months and 30 days
Oscar Tunjo, Colombia – 16 years, 9 months and 15 days
Sacha Fenestraz, France/Argentina – 16 years, 10 months and 1 day
Enrique Bernoldi, Brazil – 16 years, 11 months and 27 days
Daniil Kvyat, Russia – 17 years, 0 months and 5 days
Esteban Ocon, France – 17 years, 0 months and 12 days
Victor Martins, France – 17 years, 1 month and 6 days
Franco Colapinto, Argentina – 17 years, 1 month and 14 days

JD’s tally of 22 wins puts it joint sixth in the Eurocup’s all-time table, with R-ace GP way out in front on 44 wins. In the days of open-chassis competition, there were wins from Mygale and Van Diemen’s factory teams, but they were often focused as much on car development as winning races.

Motopark had a spell of dominance before it was expelled from the category, while the Finnish Koiranen brothers claimed 13 titles from their 11 years racing in various series across Europe.

Hong Kong’s BlackArts Racing has been the team to beat in Asia for several years now, and had plans that never came to fruition to expand into FR NEC in 2018.

Racing for Spain had similarly international ambitions in the ’90s, taking its home talents to anywhere they could race and win, and it ended up winning back-to-back FR2.0 UK titles. For two decades, FRenault was the category for bringing young talents into the spotlight, before they progressed to the higher demands of F3. And while that can be celebrated, now it is already on the road to being just a footnote of the past.

Most successful FRenault Eurocup graduates (Eurocup stats in italics)
Lewis Hamilton, Britain – 2008, ’14, ’15, ’17, ’18, ’19 &’20 F1 world champion, 5th in 2002, 12th in 2003
Valtteri Bottas, Finland – currently 2nd in 2020 F1, 2nd in 2019 F1, 3rd in 2017 F1, 2008 champion
Daniel Ricciardo, Australia – currently 6th in 2020 F1, 3rd in 2014 & ’16 F1, 5th in 2017 F1, 2nd in 2008
Charles Leclerc, Monaco – currently 5th in 2020 F1, 4th in 2019 F1, 13th in 2018 F1, NC in 2014
Robert Kubica, Poland – 4th in 2008 F1, 6th in 2007 F1, 12th in 2015 WRC, 2013 WRC2 champion, 7th in 2002, 14th in 2001
Andre Lotterer, Germany – 2011 Super Formula champion, 2006 & ’09 Super GT champion, 2012 WEC champion, 5th in 1999
Sebastien Bourdais, France – 2004, ’05, ’06, ’07 Champ Car champion, 17th in 2018 F1, 5th in 2020 IMSA, 10th in 1997
Simon Pagenaud, France – 2016 IndyCar champion, 2nd in 2017 & ’19 IndyCar, 2010 ALMS champion, 2nd in 2004, 3rd in 2003
Oriol Servia, Spain – 2nd in 2005 Champ Car, 4th in 2011 IndyCar, 6th in 2007 Champ Car, 19th in 2014-15 FE, 15th in 1995
Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland – 2014 & 2018-19 WEC champion, 2015-16 FE champion, 15th in 2011 F1, 11th in 2006
Jean-Eric Vergne, France – 2017-18 & ’18-19 FE champion, 13th in 2014 F1, 2nd in 2018 ELMS, 2nd in 2009, 6th in 2008

The post Where Formula Renault is headed next, and how it got there appeared first on Formula Scout.

Formula Scout is celebrating the past decade of junior single-seaters by recapping the highlights of each year. It’s now come to seeing which drivers we voted as the best over 10 years of rankings

Taking the averages of every end-of-year Top 50 ranking of drivers that Formula Scout has compiled, a list of the 50 best talents in junior single-seaters of the decade has been created. Using these results, rather than retrospectively measuring performances from year to year and driver-to-driver against each other, and from drivers in different stages of their career (many who started in the 2000s or have had a brilliant start in the lower formulae very recently) does create some odd trends.

Any driver who left junior single-seaters in 2010 for professional motorsport only has one data point to go from and are unsurprisingly very high in the Top 50 of the decade list, while drivers from New Zealand who took up the opportunity in their home country to start racing at a younger age have more data points which brings their averages down.

Then there are drivers such as Roberto Merhi, who topped the Formula Scout Top 50 in 2011 before graduating to DTM. A few years later he returned to single-seaters in Formula Renault 3.5, which successfully sent him on to Formula 1. He then returned to the junior ranks again in Formula 2. Each time he was considered eligible for the Top 50, placing eighth from his 2014 FR3.5 season, but his fruitless F2 return left him outside of the Top 50 twice and brought his average placing down to 32.

Key? Name, nation, highest ranking in Formula Scout Top 50: best junior single-seater results – best professional results
FA1 = Formula Acceleration 1, IGTC = Intercontinental GT Challenge, BGTS = Blancpain GT Series, TRS = Toyota Racing Series, WEC = World Endurance Championship, WTCR = World Touring Car Cup, ELMS = European Le Mans Series

Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

50. Dean Stoneman ???10th in 2014: 2nd in ’14 GP3, 5th in 2016 Indy Lights, 6th in 2015 FR3.5, 2010 MSV F2 champion
49. Antonio Fuoco ?? 12th in 2013: 7th in 2018 F2, 3rd in ’16 GP3, 5th in ’14 European F3, ’13 FR2.0 Alps champion
48. Jack Aitken???/?? 6th in 2017 & ’19: 5th in ’19 F2, 2nd in ’17 GP3, ’15 FR2.0 Eurocup & Alps champion | Interview
47. Esteban Gutierrez??? 9th in 2010: 3rd in 2012 GP2, 8th in ’11 GP2 Final, ’10 GP3 champion – 16th in ’13 F1
46. Sergey Sirotkin ?? 9th in 2015: 3rd in ’15 & ’16 GP2, 5th in ’14 FR3.5, 3rd in 2012 Auto GP – 20th in ’18 F1 | Interview
45. Jake Dennis ?? 12th in 2016: 4th in ’16 GP3, 3rd in ’15 European F3, ’12 FR2.0 NEC champion – 12th in ’17 IGTC
44. Charles Pic ???10th in 2011: 4th in ’11 GP2, 5th in 2009-10 GP2 Asia – 18th in 2014-15 FE, 20th in 2013 F1
43. Mirko Bortolotti??? 5th in 2011: 2nd in ’14 FA1, ’11 MSV F2 champion – ’17 BGTS champion | Interview
42. Carlos Sainz Jr??? 4th in 2014: ’14 FR3.5 champion, 4th in ’12 Masters of F3, 5th in ’12 European F3 -?6th in 2019 F1
41. Mitch Evans ?? 4th in 2012: 4th in ’14 GP2, ’12 GP3 champion, ’10 & ’11 TRS champion – currently 16th in ’19-20 FE
40. Daniel Juncadella ?? 18th in 2011: ’12 European F3 champion, ’11 Macau GP winner – 8th in ’17 FIA GT World Cup
39. Alexander Sims ?? 18th in 2010: 2nd in ’10 Masters of F3, 4th in ’10 F3 Euro Series –currently 1st in 2019-20 FE
38. Joel Eriksson ?? 4th in 2017: ’16 Masters of F3 winner, 2nd in ’18 Macau GP, 2nd in ’17 European F3 – 11th in ’19 DTM
37. Max Fewtrell ?? 12th in 2018: 10th in ’19 FIA F3, ’18 FR2.0 Eurocup champion, ’16 British F4 champion | Interview
36. Anthoine Hubert ???7th in 2019: 10th in ’19 F2, ’18 GP3 champion, 7th in ’16 Masters of F3 | Interview
35. Oliver Rowland??? 2nd in 2015: 3rd in ’17 F2, ’15 FR3.5 champion, 2nd in ’13 FR2.0 Eurocup -?currently 4th in ’19-20 FE
34. Antonio Giovinazzi ?? 1st in 2016: 2nd in ’16 GP2, ’15 Masters of F3 winner, 2nd in ’15 European F3 -?17th in ’19 F1
33. Pierre Gasly??? 5th in 2016: ’16 GP2 champion, 2nd in ’14 FR3.5, ’13 FR2.0 Eurocup champion – 7th in ’19 F1 | Interview
32. Albert Costa ?? 23rd in 2010: 4th in ’11 FR3.5, ’09 FR2.0 Eurocup & WEC champion – ’19 Int. GT Open champion | Interview
31. Marco Wittmann ?? 15th in 2010: 2nd in ’10 & ’11 F3 Euro Series, 2nd in ’11 FIA F3 Int. Trophy – ’14 & ’16 DTM champion
30. Kevin Magnussen ?? 1st in 2013: ’13 FR3.5 champion, 2nd in ’11 British F3, 3rd in ’10 German F3 -?9th in ’18 F1
29. Alex Lynn??? 6th in 2014: 6th in ’15 & ’16 GP2, ’14 GP3 champion – 8th in ’18-19 WEC GTEPro, 16th in ’17-18 FE | Interview
28. Felipe Nasr??? 4th in 2011: 3rd in ’14 GP2, ’11 British F3 champion – 13th in ’15 F1, ’18 IMSA champion, 24th in ’18-19 FE
27. Daniil Kvyat??? 3rd in 2013: ’13 GP3 champion, ’12 FR2.0 Alps champion, 2nd in ’12 FR2.0 Eurocup -?7th in ’15 F1
26. Nyck de Vries ?? 2nd in 2019: ’19 F2 champion, 3rd in ’15 FR3.5 – 9th in ’18-19 WEC LMP2, currently 9th in ’19-20 FE
25. Callum Ilott??? 9th in 2017: 11th in ’19 F2, 3rd in ’18 GP3, 4th in ’17 European F3, 4th in ’16 Masters of F3
24. Antonio Felix da Costa???1st in 2012: ’12 & ’16 Macau GP winner, 3rd in ’13 FR3.5, 3rd in ’12 GP3 – 6th in ’18-19 FE
23. Juri Vips??? 3rd in 2019: 2nd in ’19 Macau GP, 4th in ’19 FIA F3, 4th in ’18 European F3, ’17 ADAC F4 champion
22. Marvin Kirchhofer ?? 5th in 2013: 17th in ’16 GP2, 3rd in ’14 & ’15 GP3 – 3rd in ’18 ADAC GT Masters | Interview
21. Robin Frijns ?? 2nd in 2012: ’12 FR3.5 champion, 15th in ’13 GP2 – ’15 BGTS champion, 4th in ’18-19 FE, 5th in ’19 DTM
20. Marcus Armstrong ?? 4th in 2019: 2nd in ’19 FIA F3, 2nd in ’19 TRS, 5th in ’18 European F3 | Interview
19. Stoffel Vandoorne??? 1st in 2015: ’15 GP2 champion, 2nd in ’13 FR3.5 – currently 2nd in ’19-20 FE, 4th in ’16 SF?| Interview
18. Christian Lundgaard ?? 8th in 2018 & ’19: 4th in ’19 Macau GP, 6th in ’19 FIA F3, 2nd in ’18 FR2.0 Eurocup | Interview
17. Esteban Ocon??? 1st in 2014: ’15 GP3 champion, ’14 European F3 champion – 8th in ’17 F1, 26th in ’16 DTM | Interview
16. Esteban Guerrieri??? 2nd in 2010: 2nd in ’11 & ’12 Indy Lights, 3rd in ’10 FR3.5 – 2nd in ’19 WTCR, 7th in ’16 Super TC2000
15. Sam Bird ?? 6th in 2010: 2nd in ’13 GP2, 3rd in ’12 FR3.5, 7th in ’09-10 GP2 Asia – 3rd in ’17-18 FE, 10th in ’15 WEC
14. Lance Stroll ?? 4th in 2016: ’16 European F3 champion, ’15 TRS champion – 12th in ’17 F1, 5th in ’16 Daytona 24H
13. Jules Bianchi ?? 11th in 2010: 2nd in ’12 FR3.5, 2nd in ’11 GP2 Asia, 3rd in ’10 & ’11 GP2 -?17th in ’14 F1
12. James Calado ?? 3rd in 2012: 3rd in ’13 GP2, 2nd in ’11 GP3, 5th in ’11 GP2 Final – 2017 WEC GTEPro champion
11. Valtteri Bottas ???6th in 2011: ’11 GP3 champion, ’10 Masters of F3 winner, 3rd in ’10 F3 Euro Series – 2nd in ’19 F1

Photo: Zak Mauger / FIA Formula 2

10. George Russell ?? 1st in 2018
2018 F2 champion, ’17 GP3 champion, 3rd in ’16 European F3, 2nd in ’15 Masters of F3 – 20th in ’19 F1 | Interview

Russell started his career in BRDC British Formula 4, predecessor to the current British Formula 3, and edged team-mate Arjun Maini to the title. A leap to FIA European F3 for his second year was an inspired choice for the smooth driver, and he caught Mercedes-Benz’s attention. They signed him, and he won back-to-back GP3 and F2 titles before joining Williams in Formula 1.

9. Sergio Perez ?? 10th in 2010
2nd in 2010 GP2, 15th in ’09-10 GP2 Asia -?7th in 2016 & ’17 F1

Ferrari supported Perez’s second GP2 season, and the 20-year-old Mexican showed a significant upturn in form to win five races and finish second in the standings. In a crazy 20-race season, he also coupled it up with nine pointless races. Sauber signed him for 2011, and his skill on Pirelli tyres took him to McLaren. He was dropped, but remains in F1 with Racing Point.

8. Lando Norris ?? 2nd in 2017
2nd in 2018 F2, ’17 European F3 champion, ’16 FR2.0 Eurocup & NEC champion, ’16 TRS champion – 11th in ’19 F1 | Interview

With the best title-scoring run from the start of their career in single-seaters this century, there is little to do but marvel at Norris’s stats. He won the British F4 title as a rookie, followed immediately two FR2.0 crowns and the Toyota Racing Series. After a part-time BRDC British F3 campaign he won the European F3 title, and won in F2 before taking up his McLaren F1 seat.

Photo: Mauger/FIA Formula 2

7. Charles Leclerc ?? 1st in 2017
2017 F2 champion, ’16 GP3 champion, 2nd in ’15 Macau GP, 4th in ’15 European F3, 2nd in ’14 FR2.0 Alps – 4th in ’19 F1

Leclerc has become even more impressive each year of his career, despite starting at a very high level. He starred in FR2.0 as a single-seater rookie, then adapted to F3 so quickly that for a while it looked like he’d deny Felix Rosenqvist a long-awaited European title in 2015. Moving to the F1 support bill led to GP3 and F2 titles, Ferrari backing and a F1 seat with the Scuderia.

6. Pastor Maldonado ?? 5th in 2010
2010 GP2 champion – 14th in ’15 F1, 12th in ’18-19 WEC, 8th in ’19 IMSA LMP2, 9th in ’18 Le Mans 24H?

For the same reasons that his 2012 Spanish Grand Prix victory with Williams was a surprise, Maldonado’s record-breaking GP2 title showcased the brilliant side of a driver who too often wasted chances. In 2010 he won six feature races in a row, and wrapped up the title very early. All the more impressive, the fourth-year driver did so with a debuting team.

5. Robert Wickens ?? 2nd in 2011
2011 FR3.5 champion, 2nd in ’10 GP3 – 4th in ’16 DTM, 11th in ’18 IndyCar, 23rd in ’17 IMSA PC | Interview

Were it not for a crash that led to life-changing injuries during his debut IndyCar season in 2018, Wickens could well have been 2019 champion. The last time he raced single-seaters was back in 2011, when he and Carlin team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne pushed each other hard in FR3.5. The title was decided in Wicken’s favour, but with no F1 openings he joined the DTM.

Photo: Macau Grand Prix

4. Edoardo Mortara ??/?? 4th in 2010
2010 F3 Euro Series champion, ’10 Macau GP winner – ’11, ’12 & ’13 Macau GT Cup winner, currently 7th in ’19-20 FE

Mortara ended the previous decade by returning to F3 to win the 2009 Macau Grand Prix, following a disappointing year in GP2, and he stayed in the third tier for 2010 with the Volkswagen-backed Signature team. The Italo-Swiss dominated from the off, making the most of what was considered a technical advantage that year with VW power, and after winning the title he became the first driver since 1980 to win Macau twice. VW sister brand Audi signed Mortara for the DTM, and he won eight races before switching allegiances to Mercedes in 2017. That move was made with Formula E in mind, and Mortara won this year’s Hong Kong E-Prix for Venturi, now a Mercedes customer in the championship.

3. Daniel Ricciardo ?? 3rd in 2010
2nd in 2010 FR3.5 -?3rd in ’14 & ’16 F1, 9th in ’15 Race of Champions

The Red Bull junior won FR2.0 and F3 titles with apparent ease in 2008 and ’09, but a new decade marked a tougher challenge for Ricciardo in FR3.5. The cheery Australian drove for top team Tech 1 Racing, and the combination gelled immediately with two poles at the season opener. Ricciardo took a composed win from another pole in Monaco, but otherwise found it difficult to visit the podium’s top step against experienced rivals Mikhail Aleshin and Esteban Guerrieri. He benefitted from Guerrieri’s absence to win at the Hungaroring, and took the title fight to the last race. Finishing second meant he returned in 2011, and mid-season he made his F1 debut with HRT. As a result, Formula Scout considered him ineligible for the Top 50.

Photo: Circuit Park Zandvoort

=1. Max Verstappen ???2nd in 2014
2014 Masters of F3 winner, 3rd in ’14 European F3, 7th in ’14 Macau GP – 3rd in ’19 F1?| Interview

There’s only one year of racing to go off when measuring Verstappen’s junior career, but he won a lot and deservedly earned himself an F1 drive off the back of it. The teenager started his year in Ferrari’s Florida Winter Series, winning twice and taking three poles against F3 and FR2.0 champions. Next up was European F3, picked after also testing in FR2.0, and was a winner by his sixth race. He won six in a row at Spa-Francorchamps and the Norisring, but the momentum slowed and he came third in the points. He did win the Masters of F3 at his home Zandvoort circuit, which he celebrated by signing with Red Bull. He was promoted from Toro Rosso after 23 races, won immediately with Red Bull Racing and was briefly a 2019 title threat.

=1. Jean-Eric Vergne ?? 1st in 2010
2nd in 2011 FR3.5, ’10 British F3 champion – ’17-18 & ’18-19 FE champion, 2nd in ’18 ELMS, 13th in ’14 F1?| Interview

The full circle of Vergne’s career this decade has obviously had its highs and lows, and the seriously impressive 2010 British F3 champion went to become the incredibly successful 2017-18 and ’18-19 FE champion – the first to double up in FE. After his eye-catching year in F3 with Carlin, where he also finished fourth in the Masters and seventh in Macau, Vergne cameoed in FR3.5 and won – earning Formula Scout’s vote as the best junior single-seater driver of the year. He remained with Carlin, and FR3.5, for 2011 and very narrowly lost out on the title to team-mate Wickens. In doing so he had improved massively as a driver, and he spent the next three years in F1 with Toro Rosso. After being dropped he wound up in FE, and the rest is history.

Photo: Renault Sport / Ronald Fleurbaaij

The post Formula Scout Review of the 2010s Part 3: Drivers of the decade appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Roberto Piccinini

The promoter of the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps series says it will not run the championship in 2016.

Italian operation Fast Lane Promotion will wait “for more favourable conditions” to resume the series in the future, and continue to run its Renault Clio Cup series in the meantime.

The Alps series has been one of two regional FR2.0 championships running in Europe in recent years together with the NEC, complementing the main Eurocup series.

It first ran under the Alps name in 2011 but its history can be traced back to 2000 and the start of the Italian FR2.0 series, won that year by Felipe Massa. Other winners of the Italian series included Jose Maria Lopez, Pastor Maldonado and Kamui Kobayashi.

Alps was formed after a merger with the former Swiss series, with Daniil Kvyat, Antonio Fuoco, Nyck de Vries and Jack Aitken its most recent champions.

The cancellation of the series follows the news that Koiranen, which ran de Vries and Aitken to their titles, would be withdrawing from FR2.0 competition this winter to focus on its GP3 and Formula 4 programmes.

For much of last season, Koiranen had supplied five of the 14 regular entries in Alps, and its departure threatened to leave the series without any of the main Eurocup teams competing on a full-time basis.

Among the events on the Alps calendar included a slot on the Pau Grand Prix support bill, which it was hoped in 2016 would act as preparation for the new Monaco Eurocup date scheduled for two weeks later.

Josef Kaufmann Racing, Fortec Motorsports and Tech 1 Racing have all committed to fielding drivers in the NEC.

The post Formula Renault 2.0 Alps won’t run in 2016 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Roberto Piccinini

Koiranen has announced it has withdrawn from Formula Renault 2.0 competition, having taken double Eurocup and Alps series titles for two consecutive years.

The Finnish-owned outfit had been missing from the post-season Eurocup tests at Aragon and Paul Ricard and has now made its withdrawal official.

The operation will focus on its programmes with GP3 and FIA Formula 4 in 2016.

GP3 introduces a new car for next season, while Koiranen has added a second centrally-run F4 series in Spain to the one it ran in the Northern European Zone with SMP backing in 2015.

Koiranen claimed double FR2.0 titles in 2014 and ’15 with?Nyck de Vries?and?Jack Aitken respectively.

It first won the Eurocup in 2010 with Kevin Korjus, and scored the 2011 NEC and 2012 Alps crowns with then-Red Bull Juniors Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat respectively.

“We have proved in few years only to be a very strong competitor in the category,” said Koiranen CEO Afa Heikkinen.

“Today, we are ready to take new challenges and aim for new titles.”

Executive director Alexandra Consani commented: “Our decision to extend our operations in the new FIA F4 categories is to continue teaching young drivers through a very good frame designed by the FIA to allow cost-effective equal chances for everyone.”

PaddockScout Comment

by Peter Allen

There’s no other way of putting it: Losing Koiranen is a big blow for Formula Renault 2.0.

Having a choice of reputable teams is an important factor for top drivers in choosing championships, and FR2.0 has now lost its leading outfit.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. The recent arrival of Lando Norris – who could have chosen to race anywhere – proves that FR2.0 is still attractive to the quickest and most well-funded of drivers.

And so it should be. Having pulled its backing from the 3.5-litre series, Renault is now putting its full focus in terms of junior single-seater championships – for now at least – onto 2.0. That includes giving it a prestigious Monaco Grand Prix support slot.

It still makes plenty of sense as a series to compete in. Drivers have been flocking to Formula 3, but as this year showed, many are under-prepared.

Koiranen might have pulled out of FR2.0 and prioritised FIA F4 and GP3 – potentially with one eye on plans to enter the GP2-promoted F2 – but it has now removed a route for drivers to be able to move between those two categories. It’s ironic that the team has literally just announced an FR2.0 graduate as its first GP3 driver for next year.

In recent seasons, FR2.0 has quite possibly been too competitive, with good drivers languishing down the order – but it is in danger of doing too far the other way.

Hopefully more drivers will follow the lead of Norris in choosing FR2.0 and taking their careers one step at a time.

The post Koiranen withdraws from Formula Renault 2.0 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Antonin Grenier/DPPI

By securing the Eurocup and Alps titles in Formula Renault 2.0 in recent weeks with an outstanding run of form, Jack Aitken has thoroughly earned a PaddockScout profile

It takes a decent amount of talent to win the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 title alone ? recent winners include Robin Frijns, Stoffel Vandoorne and Pierre Gasly.

But since Pedro de la Rosa combined winning the second ever pan-European title with success in the British series in 1992, a select few champions have been able to celebrate a double crown. These include Felipe Massa, Kamui Kobayashi, Valtteri Bottas and 2014 Eurocup and Alps winner Nyck de Vries.

Following in the footsteps of de Vries this year was Jack Aitken, who captured the same two titles on back-to-back weekends at Jerez this month after a superb run of form.

Like his predecessor, Aitken enjoys this success at the culmination of a three-year spell in FR2.0, but he too showed promise throughout and the style in which he confirmed that potential clearly marks him out as one to watch.

A quick history (so far)

In his karting career, Aitken rose up the Rotax ranks and although he missed out on a major title, he was third in British Super 1 National Mini Max and second in the Junior Euro Challenge in 2010, and then second in the BNL series in 2011.

2012 marked his move into single-seaters aged 16 in the Intersteps series in Britain for Formula BMW machinery, driving for Fortec Motorsports. He won twice on his way to third in the standings as the best karting graduate.

At the end of the year he moved into Formula Renault in the four-race BARC Winter Series and finished just a point shy of the winner, team-mate Seb Morris, who had a full season?s experience.

Photo: Chris Schotanus

A full-time switch to the category followed, but in the Northern European Cup (NEC). He finished runner-up there behind Matt Parry, who had also won the Intersteps title the year before but did have a prior year of single-seater experience compared to Aitken.

For 2014, Aitken stepped up to contest the Eurocup, remaining with Fortec for a third straight year. He failed to score in the first three rounds as the team struggled for speed, but he made the podium at the Nurburgring, won from pole at the Hungaroring and scored a pair of podiums at Jerez. That put him seventh in the standings, within two points of fifth, and four spots ahead of Parry.

Aitken began 2015 by heading to the United States and winning the Pro Mazda Winterfest but he then returned to Europe for another season in FR2.0, this time a dual campaign in the Eurocup and Alps with champion team Koiranen.

But his Eurocup title ambitions were hurt by a challenging pair of opening rounds. Then, soon after getting that campaign firing with another Hungaroring win, his Alps bid went south when he fractured a vertebra in a collision at Monza, eliminating a lead built through three early wins.

He was fit to return after the Eurocup summer break and matched his Hungaroring achievement by winning the opening races at the Silverstone and Nurburgring weekends. He moved from eighth in the standings and 62 points adrift to third and just seven points behind in the space of September.

Before the Eurocup decider at Jerez came the Alps finale at the same circuit, where Aitken claimed maximum points behind guest drivers in both races to overturn his deficit to team-mate Jake Hughes and snatch the title.

A week later, he claimed a double pole for the first two races, which he led throughout in difficult weather conditions to give himself a 13-point margin. That meant that even though he failed to score in the final race, he had done enough.

Up next

The past six Eurocup champions have moved on to Formula Renault 3.5 and enjoyed success to one degree or another, and it?s hard to see Aitken changing that trend.

He was quick in testing at Jerez last week and is due to run for champion team Fortec again at Aragon next week.

Eurocup champions have previously received half a million euros to progress to FR3.5, but with the manufacturer withdrawing its support of the series, the full conditions of Aitken’s prize are still to be determined. He?s looking at GP3 as an alternative.

Either way, he would undoubtedly be competitive in either series.

Talent and potential

Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

While the Eurocup title race came down to three drivers with three years of experience, Aitken proved himself to be the pick of that bunch, while also seeing off some highly-rated but less experienced competitors.

Also, unlike his rivals, Aitken was always a frontrunner throughout his time in FR2.0, and could have been a much stronger contender in season two had it not been for the poor start to the season that appeared to be largely out of his hands.

It remains to be seen how well he stacks up compared to the star names to have graduated as Eurocup champion in the past. That will only really become clear in future seasons.

But in winning the two titles this year in the fashion that he did showed strong speed, racecraft and an ability to perform under pressure. All in all, he?s an impressive, well-rounded competitor.

Off-track

Although Aitken doesn?t enjoy the backing of a Formula 1 team or similar or carry prominent sponsors logos, budget hasn?t been a stumbling block for the west Londoner so far. Instead, it was his studies at Westminster School that interrupted his racing – or at least deprived him of some testing – until last year.

For most drivers, things get quite a bit more expensive when graduating out of FR2.0, but Aitken?s 2015 prize money should make that fairly straightforward once the politics are sorted.

His success this year will undoubtedly have made some of those who matter sit up and take note, and further impressive performances at higher levels could lead to serious interest.

The Eurocup title could be particularly useful with Renault now hiking up the promotion of its remaining single-seater category.

His reputation would get a further boost should he win the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award in December, after missing out two years ago.

Verdict

Before this year, Aitken was showing promise without bringing home the silverware to match. This year he?s collected trophies in emphatic style, completing a clean sweep of Eurocup, Alps and the Pro Mazda Winterfest.

There was a point when it looked like it could be a disappointing third season in FR2.0, but an impressive run-in led to him snatching both titles from behind.

It now remains to be seen how he will perform at higher levels, but after joining an illustrious list of recent Eurocup champions, don?t be surprised to see Aitken winning again in 2016.

Photo: Roberto Piccinini

The post Driver Profile: Jack Aitken appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Sam Bloxham/GP3 Series Media Service

GP3 pre-season title favourite?Esteban Ocon hasn’t won since the opening race of the campaign but is now within two points of the championship lead after extending a remarkable run of consistency at Sochi last weekend.

The 19-year-old Frenchman has now finished second in nine consecutive races, a streak stretching back to Silverstone at the start of July.

In truth, he had a great opportunity to finally go one better in Russia. He claimed pole position and led by what looked like a comfortable margin through the first corner after those behind got poor starts.

But somehow, he lost the lead a few corners later to rival Luca Ghiotto, who had charged from sixth on the grid.

Ocon was understandably glum as he stood on the second step of the podium, having seen his points deficit to Ghiotto increase again.

But things would turn around again just a couple of hours later in race two. Ghiotto had a scrappy, overly-aggressive start to the race, damaging his front wing and then ending up off-track in an overtaking attempt, leading to him falling out of the points.

Ocon meanwhile had a brilliant drive, putting in a couple of outstanding overtaking manoeuvres to provide a reminder of his class and finish up second again.

While second was a disappointing result in race one, it was a great result in the reverse-grid race one. Really, that’s been the case in each of the past four rounds.

Much was expected of Ocon this year. The theory was that if he could win European F3 as a rookie, doing the same in GP3 would be easy.

He’s had a lot more trouble dealing with Ghiotto than anybody could have imagined. But perhaps the Sochi weekend proved better than anything that that’s been because Ghiotto has been so strong, rather than Ocon failing to perform.

Ocon (6) made much better race two progress than Ghiotto (27) (Photo: Zak Mauger/GP3 Series Media Service)

Ghiotto has been in a sweet spot with his Trident-run car, that’s evident even from onboard footage. But while he has shown rough edges that mean he hasn’t always extracted the maximum points out of his speed, Ocon has ensured that he’s always been there or there abouts.

Sometimes that’s been through driving a clean race, sometimes it’s been with the sort of flair he showed to pass rivals in race two on Sunday.

Picking himself up from the disappointment of race one was impressive. He obviously fired himself up, but not to the point that he pushed the limits too far and crashed.

That’s the sort of maturity that marked him out last year, and on this occasion it’s brought him nearly level with Ghiotto with two rounds to run.

In theory, Ocon could therefore win the championship by simply maintaining this run of second-places. It’s been enough to outscore Ghiotto over previous rounds.

But going one step higher in at least one of the last four races wouldn’t hurt his bid. And it might convince current backers Mercedes or potential suitors like Renault to provide some much needed investment in his future.

Results Roundup

GP2 ? Round 9/11 ? Sochi, Russia

Stoffel Vandoorne secures the title with two rounds to spare with a third place and a fourth. Alex Lynn is on course to win a shortened feature race from pole when he crashes, handing a third win in four races to Alexander Rossi ahead of Pierre Gasly. Richie Stanaway gets his second sprint race win in front of Sunday expert Rio Haryanto and Raffaele Marciello.

Race 1: 1 Rossi; 2 Gasly; 3 Vandoorne; 4 Sirotkin; 5 Haryanto; 6 Marciello
Race 2: 1 Stanaway; 2 Haryanto; 3 Marciello; 4 Vandoorne; 5 Gasly; 6 Rossi
Standings: Vandoorne, 277.5; Rossi, 169.5; Haryanto, 126; Sirotkin, 121; Lynn, 90; Evans, 90
Next round: Bahrain (20-21 November)

Photo: Steven Tee/GP2 Series Media Service

GP3 ? Round 7/9 ? Sochi, Russia

Esteban Ocon finishes second for the eighth and ninth consecutive races, moving to within two points of leader Luca Ghiotto. Ocon claims pole but is passed on lap one by Ghiotto, who charges from seventh on the grid. Ghiotto only manages eighth in race two though, while Ocon finishes second to Jimmy Eriksson.

Race 1: 1 Ghiotto; 2 Ocon; 3 Bernstorff; 4 Palou; 5 Mardenborough; 6 Fuoco
Race 2: 1 Eriksson; 2 Ocon; 3 Mardenborough; 4 Fuoco; 5 Janosz; 6 Bernstorff
Standings: Ghiotto, 196; Ocon, 194;?Bernstorff, 146; Kirchhofer, 144; Eriksson, 85; Ceccon, 77
Next round: Bahrain (20-21 November)

Formula Renault 2.0 Alps ? Round 7/7 ? Jerez, Spain

Jack Aitken overhauls Jake Hughes to claim the title after claiming maximum points in both races. In race one he’s second to wildcard Anthoine Hubert and in race two he’s third (from 10th on the grid) behind the similarly guesting Ben Barnicoat and Hubert.

Race 1: 1 Hubert; 2 Aitken; 3 Barnicoat; 4 Hughes; 5 Romanov; 6 Daruvala
Race 2: 1 Barnicoat; 2 Hubert; 3 Aitken; 4 Kodric; 5 Defourny; 6 Vivacqua
Standings: Aitken, 242; Hughes, 237; Vivacqua, 197; Isaakyan, 193; Riener, 191; Romanov, 138
Season complete

MSA Formula ? Round 10/10 ? Brands Hatch, United Kingdom

After winning race one, seventh in race two is enough for Lando Norris to secure the championship. His Carlin team-mate Colton Herta plays second fiddle to Norris in race one but passes him to win race three. Enaam Ahmed gets his first series win with a last-lap pass in race two and takes the rookie title.

Race 1: 1 Norris; 2 Herta; 3 Collard; 4 Ahmed; 5 Martins; 6 Mitchell
Race 2: 1 Ahmed; 2 Mitchell; 3 Martins; 4 Sowery; 5 Herta; 6 Collard
Race 3: 1 Herta; 2 Norris; 3 Ahmed; 4 Sowery; 5 Fielding; 6 Pull
Standings: Norris, 413; Collard, 371; Herta, 355; Fielding, 300; Leist, 273; Ticktum, 242
Season complete

Asian Formula Renault ? Round 6/6 ? Shanghai, China

Ex-Formula Renault UK and Formula Masters China racer Dan Wells claimed the title for KCMG with his ninth and 10th consecutive victories. Australian team-mate Garnet Patterson took the runner-up spot in the standings despite missing the final round.

The post Weekend Review: Ocon within two points after two more P2s appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Roberto Piccinini

Jack Aitken claimed the 2015 Formula Renault 2.0 Alps title in the final race at Jerez, finishing third from 10th on the grid and claiming maximum points as Ben Barnicoat inherited the outright win.

As the first finisher of the Alps regulars behind three wildcard entrants, Aitken overturned the five-point deficit he had to rival, compatriot and team-mate Jake Hughes, for whom a drive from 19th to ninth and third among the scorers was not enough.

The British Koiranen duo had ended up down the order on the grid after a red flags interrupted qualifying and prevented them from lodging a competitive time.

Aitken gained a couple of places on the first lap to finish it eighth, though still third among the Alps scorers with Matevos Isaakyan and Thiago Vivacqua up the road.

Hughes made better progress in the opening laps to climb to 14th overall and fifth among the scorers.

That would have put him equal on points with Aitken, who would then have been champion on countback.

Aitken ultimately controlled his own destiny though, and he moved up past Vivacqua and into sixth overall.

Hughes continued to move forward and past James Allen for 11th overall and fourth among the scorers, but Aitken was soon on course for 25 points when Isaakyan fell out of fourth and down to 10th.

Hughes was eventually able to get to ninth past the SMP Racing-backed trio of Isaakyan, Alexey Korneev and Nikita Troitskiy, but not even beating fifth-placed Vivacqua to the 18 points would have been enough to stop Aitken.

Up front, Croatian racer Martin Kodric led Fortec team-mate Barnicoat from pole position until chequered flag for what would have been his maiden car racing victory.

However, a 10-second penalty for Kodric relegated him to fourth and gave victory to Barnicoat ahead of Anthoine Hubert and Aitken.

All three return to Jerez next weekend for the deciding Eurocup round with a chance of winning the title, 29, 15 and seven points respectively adrift of joint leaders Louis Deletraz and Kevin Jorg, who have not had the benefit of racing at Jerez this weekend.

Max Defourny was fifth ahead of Vivacqua, Simon Gachet and Jehan Daruvala.

Race results

The post Aitken grabs Formula Renault 2.0 Alps title as Barnicoat inherits win appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Roberto Piccinini

Martin Kodric claimed pole position for the final race of the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps season as title contenders Jack Aitken and Jake Hughes languished down the order but the former crucially ahead.

Two red flags, the second bringing an early end to the session, prevented the British Koiranen pairing from setting competitive lap times.

Hughes, who leads Aitken by five points, ended up 19th with his team-mate also down the order in 10th.

But with the top 10 filled mostly by wildcard drivers ineligible to score points, if positions remained the same in the race, Aitken would be on course for 15 points as the third highest Alps driver while Hughes would only get two for ninth place.

Kodric, chasing his first win FR2.0, was over half a second quicker than Matevos Isaakyan, whose title chances ended in a collision in race one that also earned him a four-place grid penalty for race two.

Guesting Eurocup title contenders Ben Barnicoat and Anthoine Hubert were third and fourth fastest ahead of Max Defourny and Thiago Vivacqua.

Simon Gachet was seventh ahead of the SMP F4 graduate pairing of Alexey Korneev and Nikita Troitskiy.

Should Aitken remain third of the Alps points-scorers in the race – and he would need to catch Isaakyan or Vivacqua to improve upon that – Hughes must climb from ninth place to fourth among the eligible pack to win the title.

Qualifying results

The post Kodric gets pole for Alps finale, Aitken ahead of Hughes appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Sicfotografos

Anthoine Hubert won race one at the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps finale at Jerez as Jack Aitken claimed maximum points to cut his deficit to leader Jake Hughes to just five with a race to go.

Hubert held the lead from pole position ahead of Aitken, while Hughes followed Ben Barnicoat past Vasily Romanov for third and fourth places.

The top five then became spread out, but although Hubert quickly pulled over a second over Aitken on the way to his fourth win in five Formula Renault 2.0 Alps starts this season, the final gap between the pair was 0.972 seconds.

Barnicoat finished four seconds behind Hubert with Hughes a further 10 back.

With Hubert and Barnicoat only present as wildcards while preparing for next weekend’s Eurocup finale at the same circuit, Aitken took the maximum haul of 25 points with Hughes getting 18.

That means that Hughes’ lead over his fellow British Koiranen driver Aitken is now just five points ahead of Sunday’s deciding race. A second qualifying session on Sunday morning will determine the grid.

Five drivers had been in mathematical title contention at the start of the race but only Hughes and Aitken now remain.

Eighth place for Thiago Vivacqua behind Martin Kodric and Jehan Daruvala was not enough to cut his 37-point deficit, while his JD Motorsport team-mate Matevos Isaakyan had been within 11 points of Aitken but after climbing from 13th to 10th on the first lap he was then eliminated in a lap-two incident with Hugo de Sadeleer.

Simon Gachet and Max Defourny completed the top 10 ahead of another pre-race contender Stefan Riener, who came from a lowly 15th on the grid.

Race results

The post Hubert wins first Alps Jerez race, Aitken cuts points gap to Hughes appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Roberto Piccinini

Formula Renault 2.0 Alps title chaser Jack Aitken will line up on the front row for the first race of the final round at Jerez, as wildcard Anthoine Hubert claimed pole in first qualifying.

Hubert, who won from pole in three of the four Alps races he contested at the start of 2015, beat Aitken to pole by exactly one tenth of a second.

With Hubert ineligible to score however, Aitken would still be on course to claim maximum points if positions remain the same in the race.

He has a 12-point deficit to fellow Briton and Koiranen team-mate Jake Hughes, who will start fifth on the grid and third of the points-scorers behind Vasily Romanov and Ben Barnicoat having been half a second off the pace.

Force India protege Jehan Daruvala qualified in sixth ahead of Hugo de Sadeleer, Martin Kodric, Thiago Vivacqua and Simon Gachet.

Matevos Isaakyan is within 23 points of Hughes but could only manage 13th on the grid behind James Allen and Max Defourny, although he is sixth of those that are eligible to score.

Stefan Riener, another driver with a mathematical shot at 31 points behind Hughes, was a further two places back in 15th.

Qualifying results

The post Hubert and Aitken on front row for race one of Alps finale appeared first on Formula Scout.