Photo: FNacional

The last two Renault Sport-affiliated Formula Renault series on the planet are being rebranded for 2022, and also undergoing technical changes.

Argentinian FR2.0 has an all-new look this season, changing its name to Formula Nacional Argentina and adding the halo cockpit protection device to the chassis it was already using.

It will make its delayed start this week at the Bahia Blanca circuit, that has returned to use in major competitions after a decade of no racing there. FNacional had previously planned for its season opener to be in February, and much of its 2022 calendar is still yet to be formally announced.

In addition to the extra weight from the halo, wider tyres will be introduced that will change the handling of the cars.

FNacional claims to be Argentina’s only single-seater series with national championship status this year, despite the presence of the FIA-endorsed Formula 4 championship that began last year. It too has an incomplete 2022 schedule.

Over in east Asia, the series that was given the FRegional Asia Series name (FRAS) for its cancelled 2021 season is now set for a comeback all in China.

From 2002 to 2019 the series was known as Asian FR and usually had all-Chinese calendars or would include one overseas trip to Malaysia’s Sepang circuit. In 2016 it visited South Korea and Thailand instead of Malaysia.

Two years ago the series renamed itself FR Asiacup as it attemped to mirror the FR Eurocup in switching from FR2.0 cars to Formula Regional chassis. However the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to those plans being undone, with a season that was supposed to start on the support bill of the inaugural Vietnamese Grand Prix ending up being cancelled entirely and rendering Renault’s prize of a Motorsport Games F4 Cup seat to the best Hong Kong-born driver in the points totally void.

The planned switch to FRegional had no take up, and so FR2.0 cars had to be let back in as a secondary class as it rebranded to FRAS for 2021. But the continuation of the pandemic and an extreme sports tragedy meant no racing occurred again.

Zhuhai, where many teams base themselves and where much of the series’ racing take place, established its own FR2.0 series without Renault support, but Circuit Hero Formula Race failed to run any races for the same reasons.

Formula Scout spoke to Renault Sport Racing’s customer racing director Benoit Nogier about the brand’s plans in Asia, and he was enthusiastic to get FRAS off the ground again with FRegional cars. This week Renault told Formula Scout that the series would go ahead with only a FRegional class.

A five-event 2022 season has been announced for what will now be the Alpine Formula Racing Asia series, with the first two rounds taking place at the new Zhuzhou circuit on May 21/22 and June 18/19. Xiamen, another new circuit, is provisionally set to host rounds three and four on July 9/10 and August 13/14, and the season will conclude at Formula 1 track Shanghai on September 17/18.

The post Formula Renault series get rebranded for 2022 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Sacha Tisserand / Panda Studio

Alain Prost and his son Nico have now won single-seater titles as drivers in five different decades. The family’s latest success wasn’t in F1 or FE, but in one of the few remaining Renault-powered junior series

If Formula E’s sixth most successful driver ever, who is also a Le Mans 24 Hours class winner and champion of Auto GP and the Andros Trophy’s former electric class, announced he would make a full-time return to single-seater racing and in a junior series no less, you would expect quite a bit of fuss.

But Nico Prost’s surprise comeback to open-wheelers in the Ultimate Cup Series Single-Seater Challenge didn’t make headlines outside of France, and was actually only brought into the spotlight once young Dutch karter Laurens van Hoepen (who is supported by reigning FE champion Nyck de Vries) started doing Formula Regional European Championship testing and it was noted that he had raced in UCS already and against none other than Prost.

Prost’s comeback began at the end of last April, as the UCS season kicked off at Paul Ricard. He was driving a Renault-powered Tatuus T-318, just like the ones used in FREC, and there was also a class for old Formula Renault 2.0 cars.

“Just so happy to be back in a single-seater, loving every second,” Prost said after free practice, in a car that was delivered to his CMR (Classic & Modern Racing) team just a few days prior. “Solid first day topping every session. Focus, keep pushing.”

Prost was fastest by 1.868 seconds, and that pace advantage continued into qualifying and first race. He took pole for race one by 2.394s, and on second-fastest laps claimed race two pole by 3.239s.

The first one was converted into a 10.272s win in the wet on his first race in a single-seater since 2018, with conditions then getting so treacherous with fog and rain that race two had to be put back by a day.

Again he won, by a massive 35.340s in race two and 20.440s in race three ahead of Graff Racing’s gentleman driver and sportscar regular Eric Trouillet. For Prost it was a big pleasure to be back in a formula car.

There was proper opposition in round two at Dijon, as French Formula 4 race-winner and two-time Alpine Europa Cup champion Jean-Baptiste Mela joined the grid with the same Autosport GP team that runs his Alpine car.

Mela was within half a second of Prost in qualifying, and finished only 1.757s behind in race one. The next day he was able to end Prost’s run of success, passing him on lap one of race two and then holding him off to win while in race three Prost passed him for the lead on lap two but a last-lap engine misfire allowed Mela to slip back past.

UCS returned to Paul Ricard for race three, with rounds abroad cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Mela pipped Prost to pole by 0.095s. On second-best laps for race two, he was ahead by the tiniest margin: 0.001s.

In third for Graff was Dylan Young, who spent eight years in the MRF Challenge series before finally winning there in 2019.

Mela held off Prost to win race one at Paul Ricard, with Prost admitting his pace was “not fantastic” as later in the day he was then beaten again by 5.547s. Mela did the triple in race three on Sunday, and Young beat Prost to second place.

After some testing through summer to get more used to the car, Prost went into round four at Le Mans in September knowing he had a big job on his hands. Mela and Young were on the grid again, but it also marked the debut of van Hoepen with Graff and he had other commitments during the weekend.

Van Hoepen has risen up the karting ranks over the last few years, being a European champion on Mini karts in 2017, then spending a year-and-a-half in junior and then senior karting. He came eighth in the CIK-FIA World Karting Championship for OK-Junior karts in 2019, and matched that position in the equivalent European championship for OK karts in 2020.

Last year he progressed into shifter karting and came seventh in the WSK Open Cup for KZ2 karts, and also made a big impression in his UCS appearances.

Photo: Davy Delien / Pro-photos-sport.com

He took pole on debut by a quarter of a second, then fought with Mela through race one. Mela managed to win, but van Hoepen did attempt a last-lap move to reclaim his lead as he finished second while Prost shadowed them in third.

Prost denied van Hoepen in race two, the latter doing an impressive job to finish second after spinning in a collision at the Dunlop chicane with Mela, and then took to his other commitments. Post-race he got on a private jet and flew to Ledenon to share an Alpine A110 with Rudy Servol in French GT4. The CMR pair won the Pro-Am class and finished second overall in race one, but didn’t meet the chequered flag in race two. It was still two wins at two circuits in one day.

In Prost’s absence at Le Mans, van Hoepen earned his first win in race three ahead of Young and Theo Vaucher.

While there was no Mela at Magny-Cours, Prost had a new team-mate in Carmen Jorda. The Spaniard is best known for her three seasons in GP3 in which she scored no points and a 50-race stint in Euroformula that peaked with two ninth places. She has been linked to a return to that series with a team that currently competes far further down the single-seater ladder.

Jorda was a 8.704s off the pace in qualifying, behind four FR2.0 runners, while van Hoepen beat Prost to pole by 0.014s in a red flag-interrupted session. Van Hoepen headed him in the first two races too, while Jorda’s tricky racing return continued, then Prost just beat van Hoepen in race three to earn his long-awaited first Magny-Cours win 16 years after first racing there.

The season finale was the one round abroad not called off, and ran at former Portuguese Grand Prix venue Estoril. It started well for van Hoepen and Jorda, as the teenager took pole by 1.211s and the latter halved her pace defecit to him.

Van Hoepen then turned his qualifying pace into three fine victories, while four-time Formula 1 world champion Alain Prost told his son to “take it easy and just bring back the crown” over the weekend and so a more risk-averse strategy led to two thirds and a second for Prost but enough for him to be crowned champion by 103 points over Vaucher.

A half-season full of podiums brought van Hoepen up to third ahead of gentleman driver Luis Sanjuan, while Mela ended up down in 10th in the standings. Race Motorsport’s Franck Seeman won the FR2.0 class title.

Season round-up

The post What Prost did next: FE stalwart to junior single-seater champion again appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Renault 2.0

The 2020 Argentinian Formula Renault 2.0 season came to a delayed conclusion last weekend at Buenos Aires after three extra rounds were organised to run in 2021.

Argentina’s Autodromo Uruguay was set to settle things last December, but it was deemed unsafe to use for the series’ fifth round and it elected to instead run at Rio Cuarto on the second week of January.

Touring car series Super TC2000 then added three more dates to complete its season, and support series Argentinian FR2.0 followed suit with a round at Parana and two at Buenos Aires.

Isidoro Vezzaro headed the standings by 21 points from Jorge Barrio after four rounds, with Eduardo Moreno and Mateo Polakovich also title contenders.

Barrio took pole for the second Rio Cuarto race, with Moreno winning the reversed grid first race to briefly move into second in the points as Barrio retired.

While Barrio became Vezzaro’s closest rival again in race two, he actually allowed the points gap to grow when an error on the brakes while leading allowed Vezzaro to pass him for the win.

Barrio claimed pole again at Parana, where 2017 champion Hernan Satler and reigning champion Guido Moggia made series returns. Moggia won the wet first race from the front while action behind flipped the title picture.

In the final third of the race, Vezzaro had got up to second and had Barrio, Polakovich and Lautaro Pineiro following. Coming into a downhill left-hander Barrio tried passing around the outside while Pineiro simultaneously went for the inside of Polakovich on a tighter line.

Vezzaro made Barro use all of the available asphalt, leaving space for the other two to draw alongside exiting the corner. Barrio stuck to the outside kerb, Vezzaro just avoided contact but drifted into the middle of the track and Polakovich’s right-hand tyres. Polakovich was pitched upwards, balancing on one wheel before landing and clouting Barrio.

Both retired with damage, the safety car was summoned, and on the restart Barrio nabbed second from Pineiro. Afterwards, Vezzaro was disqualified and given a grid penalty for race two, where Barrio became championship leader with a lights-to-flag win.

Barrio set the pace in the first of February’s Beunos Aires rounds, but track limits abuse meant he qualified fifth rather than first. In race one he then crashed out on the opening lap.

Vezzaro charged up the order in that race but clashed with Ayrton Chrone in a last-lap move for the win, which dropped Chrone to sixth. The stewards relegated Vezzaro behind Chrone post-race, but he did regain the points lead.

Polakovich hit poleman Vezzaro out of the race two lead early, but he stayed on track and finished two places behind Barrio in fourth to lead into the final round. That was until dropped scores; he was now the equivalent of a win behind.

Barrio edged Vezzaro to pole, but the title was secured halfway through race one as Chrone spun out Vezzaro. Polakovich won, Barrio became champion in third and then controlled the season finale.

The post Jorge Barrio wins 2020 Argentinian FR2.0 title in 2021 finale appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Clement Luck / DPPI

The Formula Renault Eurocup was as strong as ever this year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and other French-engined series also had a bit of a renaissance in Argentina, western Europe and Scandinavia

Off the back of a successful switch to Regional Formula 3 regulations in 2019, the Formula Renault Eurocup had much to look forward to in 2020. There was the return to the championship of junior single-seater powerhouse ART Grand Prix and Manor Competition, as well as the revamped Zandvoort circuit that had last hosted the series in 2000.

The year-defining pandemic then arrived, and Renault Sport was one of the very fastest to safeguard its calendar. It added Imola as it lost Silverstone, then after losing its Formula 1 support slot on the streets of Monaco it added another Imola round on the weekend F1 visited the circuit for the inaugural Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Rounds in Hungary and Abu Dhabi were also lost, but in came far cheaper alternatives at Magny-Cours and Hockenheim.

Manor’s return as the outfit behind the series’ Fernando Alonso-branded team didn’t happen on schedule either, with long-time partner MP Motorsport taking the running of those cars in-house from the start of the season and keeping the level of competition up, and when Arden’s Jackson Walls pulled out that handed Alex Quinn a seat that he was able to keep for the full season and make great use of.

The only loss of the season that didn’t have much of a silver lining was crack Toyota Racing Series team M2 Competition pulling out after the first two rounds and refocusing its efforts on 2021. But expect it to be near the front on its return.

Three of the top five drivers from 2019 returned, with title runner-up Victor Martins the firm title favourite despite switching from proven winner MP to ART GP – which was totally new to the Tatuus T-318 car but was quick in testing.

Photo: Clément Luck / DPPI

His main rival was expected to be R-ace GP’s Caio Collet, who was a winless fifth in 2019 but retained his Renault junior status as the rookie title winner while sophomore racer Martins won six races and lost his Renault links.

The season began at Monza with Quinn and MP’s Franco Colapinto stealing their thunder. Arden stand-in Quinn took pole for the season opener and led until Colapinto nabbed him after a safety car restart. Colapinto had become Quinn’s closest rival after a clash with Martins, which required the Frenchman to pit, and after taking the lead he drove well in defence for his first win. Quinn, who like Colapinto did a few rounds in 2019, finished second while Collet came third.

Martins was on pole for race two of the weekend, and like Quinn he was the race leader until the safety car bunched the field up. Collet fought his way through into the lead a few laps after the restart, bringing Colapinto with him, and with his first win he took the points lead.

The question of how Martins would respond to Collet’s win in the first bout was drowned out in round two at Imola, as car racing debutant David Vidales joined last-minute with JD Motorsport and made history by bagging pole for his debut and then taking two hugely impressive wins to rocket straight into third in the points. Martins meanwhile was sixth in the standings.

The title picture had changed by the end of the next round at the Nurburgring, where Martins dominated every session and even led a ART GP 1-2-3 in the second race there. Slow starts in both races hurt Collet, now five points off new leader Martins.

But unlike Martins’ average Imola showing, where most teams besides JD struggled with set-up, Collet’s response to Martins drawing ahead was to push him to the absolute limit next time out at Magny-Cours. In a joint interview during their title battle, both pointed to this weekend as being the closest they had been to each other in battle, and with a win apiece the gap at the front was brought down to two points. The only driver rivalling them there, and in the standings, was Vidales.

It was a similar story at Zandvoort, where the top two got a pole each and then opened up huge gaps to the rest of the field while fighting for victory. But with matching results, there was no change in the title fight at the halfway point.

Next up was Barcelona, Martins’ specialist circuit from his previous years in the Eurocup, and as expected nobody could match him over one lap let alone a whole race. Were it not for a safety car interruption in race two, he could have beaten Collet to victory by over 10 seconds in both races. Further down the order, MP’s debutant Kas Haverkort starred by finishing fifth.

In unique circumstances because of the pandemic, and the late addition of the F1-supporting Imola round, it meant the final four race weekends all ran one after the other. This was a gruelling physical and mental demand for the drivers, and the month-long trip started off on an odd note when Bhaitech driver Lorenzo Colombo had his nose injured during a mandatory COVID-19 test and had to miss the races at Spa-Francorchamps.

The Italian’s third season in the series had been a tricky one, with the move from MP to Bhaitech for 2020 moving him down the grid rather than up it. While initially frustrated at not being able to fight for the title, he seemed to find inner peace during his unusual absence and returned all guns blazing for the final three rounds at Imola, Hockenheim and Paul Ricard.

While he was gone, Martins extended his points lead again and Colapinto and Quinn came through to take wins in the rain.

Vidales was expected to throw another spanner in the works in the title battle on the second visit to Imola, but JD had lost its speed advantage and the Spanish teenager qualified eighth on his return. It was Colombo who took the first pole of the weekend, but a slightly messy race cost him a chance at victory and it was Collet who won. Vidales was hit out on the first lap.

It got even worse in race two, as Vidales turfed Collet into retirement on lap one while Martins took his record 15th series win and ended the weekend with a lead that had grown by 10 points. There was very little time for Collet to recover the gap.

During that weekend it was announced that the Eurocup would be discontinued after 2020, as predicted by Formula Scout, and that its Renault engines would instead supply cars in the rival Formula Regional European Championship as of 2021.

Collet went to the next round at Hockenheim and emphatically took pole, victory and fastest lap in race one to claim R-ace’s record 44th Eurocup win, but his Sunday began with a clutch change before qualifying and he ended up down the grid for race two – a race he failed to finish thanks to mechanical problems. Martins was a comfortable second in both races, as Colombo took Bhaitech’s first win on Sunday.

A 44-point gap existed between Martins and Collet ahead of the Paul Ricard season finale, and in the pre-event test Colombo and Martins set identical laptimes at the top while Collet was only 0.017s behind.

Martins broke the track record in free practice, where he was just 0.095s up on Collet, and the order went Colombo-Martins-Collet in both of the qualifying sessions.

Colombo was shadowed by Martins early in the season’s penultimate race, before the ART GP driver fell into the clutches of Collet – whose move for second on his rival was as pronounced as it was crucial. Martins lost another place to Colapinto, who now led Quinn and Vidales in the battle for third in the points, and with fourth place he secured the Eurocup title.

The 30th and final Eurocup season ended with another Colombo win, this time with Martins providing a challenge all race long, and resulting in Vidales losing fifth in the points to the Italian and losing the rookie title to Quinn.

Colombo’s late-season charge also brought him up to second place in the all-time list for points scored in the Eurocup, some 309.5 points behind Martins and 26 points ahead of Collet. Unfortunately nobody will ever get to rival those results in the future, although Renault has been linked to a formative concept of a Formula E feeder series…

Formula Scout’s Top 5 Eurocup drivers

Key Percentage of team’s points scored (TP), Average qualifying position (QA), Average points per race (AP)

5. David Vidales SPAIN JD Motorsport
6th in standings, 169 points (2 wins, 1 pole, 2 fastest laps, 6 podiums) – TP 65%, QA 7.8, AP 9.4

Pole and victory on his car racing debut, in an international F3 race no less, then making the podium in six of his first seven races were simply spellbinding statistics by Vidales. He was one of the series’ top drivers as soon as he landed, having originally been headed to FREC with US Racing for his long-awaited single-seater graduation, and it was only when the paddock was pushed to its working limits in the four rounds running in a row that JD and Vidales’ form dropped.

Without the crashes on his Imola return he probably would have been fourth in the points, and had he done the full season he may well have been third.

4. Alex Quinn BRITAIN Arden
4th in standings, 183 points (1 win, 1 pole, 1 fastest lap, 5 podiums) – TP 67%, QA 6.4, AP 9.2

The Briton earned a top five spot in Formula Scout’s equivalent 2019 list, despite only doing three rounds, and it’s clear to see why. Arden was not the fastest team on the grid but Quinn got the maximum out of the car he had despite being called up late at the start of the season. His close relationship with the team no doubt helped and he finished in the top five in two thirds of the races. While Vidales moves to Prema for FREC 2021, Quinn should be joining him on the grid with Arden.

3. Franco Colapinto ARGENTINA MP Motorsport
3rd in standings, 213.5 points (2 wins, 2 fastest laps, 9 podiums) – TP 75%, QA 5.6, AP 10.7

The Spanish Formula 4 champion made the top 10 once in his two-round 2019 cameo, but Colapinto went straight to the top on his 2020 return. MP’s form seemed to waver quite a bit – Renault junior team-mate Hadrien David tended to be further off the pace at the same races Colapinto was – but he was on the podium at seven of the 10 rounds. His racecraft was exciting, but not always on point, and his focus was sometimes more on his coaching/engineering commitments in Spanish F4.

2. Caio Collet BRAZIL R-ace GP
2nd in standings, 304 points (5 wins, 3 poles, 4 fastest laps, 12 podiums) – TP 87%, QA 3.2, AP 15.2

Collet repeated what Martins did in his second Eurocup season, so you wonder if Renault will repeat the same mistake twice and drop him from its ranks. Recent comments from the Renault Sport Academy suggest not, and with good reason too. There were so many occasions where Collet was equal to Martins, or just a tenth behind, and you can put that gap down to experience. The Brazilian also got unlucky on several occasions, and the points gap probably should have been half of what it was.

1. Victor Martins FRANCE ART Grand Prix
1st in standings, 348 points (7 wins, 10 poles, 8 fastest laps, 14 podiums) – TP 74%, QA 1.9, AP 17.4

Returning to the Eurocup for a third attempt at the title was a risk, but Martins literally had no other options for 2020 so he took what he could and turned it into the title-winning season he came very close to against Oscar Piastri in 2019. The move to ART GP paid off handsomely, not only because of the success it brought this year but because it strengthens his chances of landing a FIA F3 promotion with the team next year – potentially alongside Collet too.

Photo: Ultimate Cup Series

Ultimate Cup Series

Created last year and slotting seamlessly into the place where VdeV Single-Seater Challenge – which launched the careers of Alex Peroni and Nico Varrone – had once been, the Ultimate Cup Series Single-Seater Challenge took on the mantle of Europe’s main FR2.0 series after the Eurocup abandoned the classic formula to adopt its current Regional F3 form.

But the ambitions of the people behind UCS went beyond being the pick-up of the all the last two generations of FR2.0 cars dotted around the continent, and it too brought in the Tatuus T-318 as the car for its top class. And given all of those cars had to use official Renault Sport engines, it in effect meant it became a three-class Formula Renault series.

European Le Mans Series team Graff Racing, which won the 2002 Eurocup with Eric Salignon, joined in and it had three drivers on the grid for the Dijon season opener. Nine Regional F3 cars and nine FR2.0 machines lined up for the first round.

On pole for the first race was Graff’s 17-year-old prodigy Konstantin Lachenauer. He’d only started karting in Switzerland in 2018, but was already making his single-seater debut in UCS by the end of 2019 and had signed up for the full 2020 season.

His team-mates were Graff’s gentleman drivers from sportscars, Lamo Racing had Corsican karter Pierre-Albert Fusella partnered by another two gentleman drivers in the top class, Formula Motorsport fielded two club racers alongside 2010 VdeV champion and Porsche Supercup backmarker Philippe Haezebrouck – who for reasons unknown raced under the pseudonym Steve Brooks – and Christophe Hurni raced for his own Sports Promotion team.

Hurni, previously the head of Swiss motorsport, is perhaps best known for racing in GP3 in 2011 when aged 48.

Back to the action.

Lachenauer comfortably beat Hurni to victory in the season opener, and ended the weekend with victory and fastest lap from all three races. Under the guidance of ELMS LMP3 race-winner and 2015 VdeV champion David Droux he got even faster, and claimed another triple win at Magny-Cours. It was the same again on the return trip to the circuit, where he won race three by over 10s.

Rounds in Spain and Portugal, which were to run with higher points coefficients, were called off because of the pandemic and the season instead ended at Paul Ricard in December with another triple-header.

Formula Motorsport turned up with only one F3 car for the finale, but it was being driven by 2011 VdeV champion and new GT World Challenge Europe Silver Cup champion Simon Gachet, so Lachenauer finally had a challenge on his hands.

Lachenauer took pole by half a second over Gachet, and both were beaten off the line in race one by Lachenauer’s team-mate Adrien Chila after he massively jumped the start. Gachet and Lachenauer ended the opening lap in third and fifth, as Eric Trouillet led the chase of team-mate Chila. Gachet took the lead in a three-wide move at the Mistral chicane on lap three, then pulled away as Lachenauer took another two laps before he gained a spot and Chila was penalised.

After a side-by-side battle with Trouillet, Lachenauer finally made it up to second place on the penultimate lap but he ended up 16s down on Gachet. His weekend got harder as he had to start from the back in race two, only recovering to third place as Gachot claimed a 14s win, then stalling from third on the grid in the finale but finishing a not too distant second to Gachet to end a title-winning first year in cars.

Sports Promotion’s series sophomores David Kullmann and Loris Kyburz went into the final race fighting over the FR2.0 title. They were both beaten by TS Corse’s karter Gianluigi Palego in the finale, Kyburz finishing second and Kullmann becoming champion by four points in third place, having taken two wins in 12 races to Kyburz’s four.

Photos: Argentinian FR2.0

Argentinian FR2.0

The South American karting scene provided the top two in the 41st season of the Argentinian championship, although they were kept on their toes by the experienced Eduardo Moreno who was champion in the 1.6-litre class two years ago.

National lockdown meant racing didn’t get underway until late September, and it was Gabriel Werner Competition’s Lautaro Pineiro who claimed the first pole of the season at Buenos Aires.

The opening race took place on a damp track, and the safety car was required multiple times as drivers spun and clashed. Moreno emerged from the chaos to take a comfortable first win, ahead of Thomas Pozner and one of Argentina’s top junior karters Ayrton Chorne. There was more drama in race two, which was won by 2019 title runner-up Mateo Polakovich.

A month later the field headed to Autodromo Oscar Cabalen, and Moreno headed GW Competition’s Isidoro Vezzaro, who was karting in Europe two years ago, by just 0.089s in practice. He extended that advantage to a third of a second over Pineiro in qualifying, but in the early laps of the opening race it was Vezzaro who led Moreno.

Moreno then spun off, and when Pozner did the same the safety car was required. Vezzaro held off pressure from Croizet Racing’s Jorge Barrio to win. A wet and eventually muddy track made the second race of the weekend an even trickier contest, and Moreno redeemed himself by fending off Barrio to win.

The same track was used for round three a week later, and the top three were covered by just 0.051s in practice. Pineiro took pole again, with Barrio beating Vezzaro to second on the grid by 0.001s. All three were jumped by a driver from further down the field at the start of the race, but once they were cleared out the way it left the path open for Vezzaro to win.

He had to play second fiddle to Barrio in race two, but still extended his points lead ahead of the return to Buenos Aires where Spanish F4 part-timer Ignacio Montenegro joined the field.

In soaking conditions Barrio bettered Vezzaro for pole, with Pineiro third, Polakovich fourth and Moreno fifth.

The circuit dried in time for the first race, but the drama ramped up as Barrio and Moreno slumped down the order while Polakovich and Pozner raced into the lead ahead of Vezzaro. Pozner retired in the second half but that didn’t help much, as Moreno and Barrio only recovered to fourth and sixth while Vezzaro extended his points lead by coming second to Polakovich.

Barrio led from the front in the final race, but Vezzaro sat behind him and banked the points for second place.

The season finale was scheduled to take place last weekend at Autodromo Uruguay, a circuit in Argentina that has been deemed unsafe to race on by the series. Whether Vezzaro will be crowned champion or another round will be organised is set to be announced imminently.

Formula Nordic

The currently Swedish-based series, where Linus Lundqvist started his career, was relaunched by its teams last year after its promoter it went bankrupt. Formula Nordic’s 2019 grids were small, but it bounced back in style with its FR1.6 cars in 2020.

Swedish junior karting graduate Joel Granfors took a double title win, and has since tested with Van Amersfoort Racing in F4 machinery. He missed the first round at Falkenberg though, and it was Havard Hallerud who dominated the first two races of the season.

Fifteen-year-old Granfors, who had tested the series’ car twice pre-season, had originally planned to enter in 2021.

His arrival at Karlskoga left an immediate impact, with pole (after Hallerud’s car failed to clear parc ferme) and two wins. The first of those wins was almost by 10s, while in race two a poor start meant he had to fight his way past Hallerud for a 8s victory. From sixth on the reversed grid in race three he was set for at least second place until a failed overtake for the lead dropped him to fourth.

Photos: Formula Nordic

At Drivecenter Arena he did the triple, after Hallerud topped qualifying again but had car issues, but a combination of factors primarily out of his control left him down the grid at Anderstorp and with little chance of dominating. He was the top car on slick tyres in race two, when rain meant the grooved compound was required, and also won the reversed grid race.

Granfors’ first proper pole came at Mantorp Park, and he converted it into another win. He then spun a good result in race two, and Hallerud – whose season was being plagued by mechanical issues – closed the points gap to leader Granfors.

The two-race title showdown took place in the wet at Ring Knutstorp, and Hallerud beat Granfors to pole – and the five points that go with it – by 0.010s. Granfors got the title wrapped up in race one though, overtaking Hallerud on the opening lap to record an eighth win of the season and become overall and Junior champion.

After finishing fourth in the season finale, Granfors said his plan was still to race in FNordic in 2021, although being champion makes that a very unlikely prospect. A prize Danish F4 test, as well as his time with VAR, suggests F4 is the next step.

The rest

Austro-Hungarian junior karting graduate Oliver Michl won the poorly contested Austrian FRenault Cup with Gender Racing Team in his rookie year of cars. The grid peaked at three cars for the Monza season finale.

The FRenault Asiacup fared even worse, despite big plans for 2020. It planned to follow its European counterpart in bringing in F3 cars, while also allowing the old FR2.0 cars to continue to race so not to isolate its existing teams. The plan was when Asian F3 wasn’t running, the cars in that series would swap Alfa Romeo power for Renault and race in the Asiacup.

Entries were scarce, despite a support slot at the Vietnamese Grand Prix. The pandemic’s arrival meant that round got called off, as did a visit to Buriram in Thailand. A postponed three-round calendar based entirely at Zhuhai was then presented, and one-by-one those were called off until we were left with no season at all.

Further reading
Where Formula Renault is headed next, and how it got there
Ten of the best Formula Renault Eurocup seasons
In Conversation: Victor Martins & Caio Collet
Scout Report: Kas Haverkort
Ten of the best junior single-seater racing debuts
Why the FIA had to undo its confusing Formula Renault decision (April 2020)

The post 2020 Formula Renault season review appeared first on Formula Scout.

Renault upped its investment in the Eurocup championship this year, and was rewarded with a thrilling three-way battle for the crown between Sacha Fenestraz, Will Palmer and Robert Shwartzman.

Over the winter, Shwartzman moved from Josef Kaufmann Racing to R-ace GP to partner Palmer, with Fenestraz switching from Tech 1 Racing to take the JKR seat left absent by Shwartzman.

All but Shwartzman had won in their rookie year, but the Russian made up for it in the first race of the 2017 season at Monza.

He went from hero to zero in the next race though, colliding with Tech 1’s Gabriel Aubry while chasing second place.

Will Palmer won that race and took the championship lead, with two second places for Fenestraz putting him one point behind.

A win and a second place for Palmer at his home round at Silverstone meant he extended that lead, with Shwartzman moving past Fenestraz after winning the second race.

This was Fenestraz’s worst performance of the season, turning ninth on the grid into fifth in the first race, then retiring from the second after contact with Red Bull junior Dan Ticktum.

Fenestraz took a sixth and a second at Pau, the latter result coming after a thrilling battle with eventual winner Alex Peroni. His street-circuit knowledge really came to the fore at Monaco though, where he picked up his first win of the season.

Aubry and Ticktum shared the wins at the Hungaroring, but Fenestraz was the most convincing of the three title contenders. He did in fact win the final race on the road, but a 10-second penalty for jumping the start dropped him to eighth, and meant Palmer left Hungary with the championship lead.

The Briton had gone into the weekend 29 points up on Fenestraz, and without the penalty he would’ve left it one point behind.

2017 Eurocup title contenders compared

From that point on, Fenestraz was the strongest of the three title protgaonists, taking at least one win at each of the next four rounds, including a double in the Spa-Francorchamps triple-header, and three further podiums.

In that same period, Palmer and Shwartzman combined only stood on the podium five times, and Fenestraz built up a championship lead of 52.5 points.

Prior to the championship decider at Barcelona, Shwartzman was signed to the Ferrari Driver Academy, and it inspired the Russian to two wins and a second.

The championship was Fenestraz’s though, as Palmer only scaled the podium once, and after wrapping it up in the penultimate race, he ended the season with his seventh victory of the year.

Palmer and Shwartzman’s R-ace GP team-mate Max Defourny finished one spot worse than in 2016, taking a singular win on the way to fourth in the standings.

Tech 1 pair Aubry and Max Fewtrell were fifth and sixth, with Renault F1 junior Fewtrell securing the rookie title over fellow Briton Ticktum.

Fenestraz’s Chinese team-mate Yifei Ye was eighth in the standings, with now former Red Bull junior Richard Verschoor ninth, and 2016 V de V Single-seater champion and Pau winner Peroni tenth.

Alongside becoming champion, Fenestraz has also been enrolled onto the Renault F1 junior scheme, and is set to step up to FIA European Formula 3 in 2018 with Carlin. Shwartzman and Macau Grand Prix winner Ticktum already have confirmed seats at Prema and Motopark, while Verschoor will join Shwartzman in tackling the Toyota Racing Series at the beginning of 2018.

Northern European Cup

Photo: Greogry Eyckmans/NEC Media

After a strong 2016, the Northern European Cup came down to earth with a bump this year, with only five-full time entrants and a champion who only finished on the overall podium once.

This was partly down to Renault itself, with the increased investment in the Eurocup leaving the NEC in the shade. In the past the series benefited from drivers contesting dual campaigns in both series, but with the expansion of the Eurocup to 10 events, drivers were prevented from contesting full seasons in both.

Of the five cars that attended all the rounds, four were supplied by R-ace GP, with the other belonging to Bart?omiej Mirecki and his family-ran BM Racing Team.?If anything, these five cars were the bit-part players of the championship, with JKR?s Eurocup regulars Fenestraz and Ye, and Tech 1’s Aubry supplying most of the action up front.

Aubry won the first two races at Monza, with team-mate Fewtrell finishing second in both. This proved to be the most competitive showing for two of the title protagonists, with Mirecki and R-ace GP’s Michael Benyahia taking a podium each.

The second round of the season at Assen belonged to Red Bull juniors Neil Verhagen and Verschoor for local squad MP Motorsport, with the pair winning a race each. Like at Monza, two of the full-timers got a podium, with Gilles Magnus finishing second to Verschoor, and Charles Milesi taking the final spot on the podium behind the Red Bull pair in the other race.

Fenestraz made his first start at the Nurburgring, and won four of the next five races. He was ineligible for points during the Spa-Francorchamps triple-header however, together with the rest of the Eurocup regulars on the shared grid.

This proved to be a turning point for the championship, with the five full-time entrants being the only ones eligible to score. Magnus took two wins as a result, with Milesi taking the other after the Belgian crashed heavily at Raidillon in the middle race.

None of the three ‘wins’ came from anything higher than a 14th place finish overall, and Benyahia, the only of the five to be on the podium in each of the three races, finished 27th, 24th and 23rd.

Magnus therefore went into the season finale at Hockenheim with a five point lead over Benyahia, with four other drivers in contention for the title.

Ye won both races, with Benyahia causing an upset to beat a struggling Magnus to eighth, and the title, in the second race.

Asia

He may have only won four races, but Charles Leong was dominant enough to miss the final round of the season and still secure the title.

The Macanese driver took double wins at Zhuhai and Shanghai, and was on the podium in all bar one of the other races, where he finished fourth. He is set to drive in the NEC in 2018.

See also:?Scout Report: Charles Leong

Daniel Lu was his closest rival, and as the best-placed Chinese driver in the standings, won the Renault Road to Champion scheme, which will place him in Europe for 2018.

Other notable drivers included Formula 4 South East Asia dominator Daniel Cao and Monegasque driver Louis Prette. Hua Miao was the Class B champion.

Argentina

The fate of the Argentinian title ended up in court, after title rivals Hernan Palazzo and Hernan Satler collided in the final round and were excluded from the meeting.

Two corners into the first race of the weekend they made contact, putting both out of the race and leading to Satler getting out of his car and verbally confronting Palazzo.

A fortnight after the season finale the ACA CDA, the Argentinian motorsport governing body’s court, judged Palazzo to be at fault for the crash and disqualified him from the championship. Satler was awarded the title, but is suspended throughout 2018.

V de V Single-seater Challenge

Frenchman Gilles Heriau finished third in 2015, second in 2016, and finally won the title this year.

The Formula Motorsport driver won three times across the season, with closest rival Laurents Horr going one better for Dutt Motorsport, with three of his four wins coming in the Barcelona opener.

Former ADAC Formula 4 midfielder Moritz Mueller-Crepon was third in the standings, winning six times.

NEC stars Benyahia and Magnus both won twice in their brief sojourns in the championship, while British F4 front-runner Logan Sargeant also won a race in his cameo.

Formula STCC Nordic (FR1.6)

WestCoast Racing Junior driver Hugo Nerman won the FSTCC Nordic title, which visited Finland, Sweden and Norway.

Nerman won 11 of the 14 races, with Konsta Lappalainen winning two races and taking second in the standings.

Succeeding Linus Lundqvist, Nerman also won the three-round FSTCC North-European Zone title.

The post 2017 Formula Renault season review appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Sam Bloxham/GP3 Media Service

With his lead in the GP3 standings increasing after victory at the Hungaroring, Luca Ghiotto continues to shade the expected title favourites, writes Peter Allen.

Luca Ghiotto remains on course for an against-the-odds GP3 title triumph after his second win of the campaign at the Hungaroring last weekend.

The Italian heads the standings going into the summer break with 23 and 25 points respectively over the high-profile ART Grand Prix pairing of Marvin Kirchhofer and Esteban Ocon.

When European F3 champion Ocon lived up to pre-season expectations by winning the opening race at Barcelona, you could have been forgiven for thinking that was it.

Kirchhofer, third in GP3 last year, made up for a lacklustre start to that weekend by winning the second race, leaving him just a couple of points behind his team-mate.

But Trident driver Ghiotto – making the full-time switch to GP3 after a mostly anonymous season in Formula Renault 3.5 – proved his Barcelona pole was no fluke by repeating it at Spielberg. But this time he converted it into victory – and a 12-second win at that.

With Ghiotto back on the podium in race two, Kirchhofer down the order in race one and Ocon excluded from the second of his podium finishes that weekend on a technicality, he left Austria with 19 points in hand.

At Silverstone he was off the podium, enabling his rivals to gain ground with a win for Kirchhofer in race one and a P2 for Ocon in race two.

But Ghiotto returned to his best in Hungary, with his third pole from four rounds and victory number two, with Ocon and Kirchhofer forced to settle for places on the podium in race one.

Notably, Ocon scored a second P2 finish on Sunday, allowing him to make up ground from his earlier exclusion. But with four rounds done and four to go, more than that will be needed to catch Ghiotto in the second half of the year.

Photo: Sam Bloxham/GP3 Media Service

Ghiotto and Trident’s form has been quite remarkable. In qualifying, he’s able to find the pace to beat the competition to pole, while in race-trim he is able to preserve his tyres better than the rest to pull away in the closing stages.

Yes, being at the head of the field is always going to aid tyre conservation, since following another car in GP3 has proven to be hard work. But Kirchhofer was in that position at Silverstone and found himself under attack late on.

If it was the case that Ghiotto’s success was purely down to he and his car package being better at keeping life in the tyres, it might be hard to stomach. At GP3 level I’d much rather see drivers rewarded for outright pace than for tyre saving.

But it isn’t the case at all, given Ghiotto’s near-dominance of qualifying. He could have a 100 per cent record had he not gone wide on a crucial lap at Silverstone.

ART is not where it wants to be when it comes to tyre preservation in comparison to Trident, but it’s not particularly struggling either, given that its drivers are able to sustain podium positions.

At the moment though, Ocon and Kirchhofer are second to best to Ghiotto in qualifying and races, and together with their team will need to find something over the break to turn that around and claim the title they need to maintain some career momentum.

Results Roundup

GP2 ? Round 6/10 ? Hungaroring, Hungary

As at Silverstone, champion in waiting Stoffel Vandoorne misses pole and after a penalty leaves him fifth in race one, he takes second in race two. Alex Lynn wins feature race from pole, with Pierre Gasly second and Sergey Sirotkin third to complete all-rookie podium.?Nobuharu Matsushita scores sprint victory with Sirotkin third again to close on P2 in the standings, which?Rio Haryanto takes from a non-scoring Alexander Rossi.

Race 1: 1 Lynn; 2 Gasly; 3 Sirotkin; 4 Haryanto; 5 Vandoorne; 6 King
Race 2: 1 Matsushita; 2 Vandoorne; 3 Sirotkin; 4 Marciello; 5 Haryanto; 6 Nato
Standings: Vandoorne, 194; Haryanto, 109; Rossi, 105; Sirotkin, 103; Lynn, 85; Gasly, 61
Next round: Spa-Francorchamps (22-23 August)

Photo: Glenn Dunbar/GP2 Media Service

GP3 ? Round 4/8 ? Hungaroring, Hungary

Luca Ghiotto pulls away again in title race with second win from third pole from four rounds. Esteban Ocon and Marvin Kirchhofer have to make do with second and third, but Ocon is second again in race two. Kevin Ceccon scores his second straight reverse-grid win, while Matt Parry makes the podium for the second time after team-mate Jimmy Eriksson is penalised for track limits abuse.

Race 1: 1 Ghiotto; 2 Ocon; 3 Kirchhofer; 4 Bernstorff; 5 Parry; 6 Eriksson
Race 2: 1 Ceccon; 2 Ocon; 3 Parry; 4 Bernstorff; 5 Parry; 6 Eriksson
Standings: Ghiotto, 121; Kirchhofer, 98; Ocon, 96; Bernstorff, 75; Ceccon, 54; Eriksson, 50
Next round: Spa-Francorchamps (22-23 August)

Formula Renault 2.0 NEC ? Round 4/7 ? Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

Rookie Max Defourny scores first victory at home circuit from pole in race one, leaving Kevin Jorg and Callan O’Keeffe behind. Leader Louis Deletraz picks up a half-points victory from a washed-out race two that lasted for three safety car laps, with Defourny and Jorg completing the podium.

Race 1: 1 Defourny; 2 Jorg; 3 O?Keeffe; 4 Deletraz; 5 Sasahara; 6 Daruvala
Race 2: 1 Deletraz; 2 Defourny; 3 Jorg; 4 Gill; 5 Sasahara; 6 Daruvala
Standings: Deletraz, 207; Jorg, 163; Sasahara, 148; O?Keeffe, 127.5; Defourny, 114; Gill, 106.5
Next round: Assen (1-2 August)

Formula Renault Argentina ? Round 6/12 ? San Luis, Argentina

Emiliano Marino and?Martin Moggia?share the wins again. After Moggia takes third in race one behind?Gaston Cabrera, he comes from seventh on the grid to win the second, taking the lead when pole-sitter Marino spins out.?Nicolas Cazal and?Federico Cavagnero join Moggia on the podium.

Race 1: 1 Marino; 2 Cabrera; 3 Moggia; 4 Cazal; 5 Cavagnero; 6 Dominici
Race 2: 1 Moggia; 2 Cazal; 3 Cavagnero; 4 Beguiristain; 5 Dominici; 6 Satler
Standings: Moggia, 202; Marino, 142; Ciarrochi, 111; Cabrera, 104; Dominici, 83; Cazal/Cavagnero, 57
Next round: Cordoba (15-16 August)

The post Weekend Review: Ghiotto still heads GP3 after Hungary win appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: FIA F3 European Championship

Peter Allen argues that despite more incidents, the European F3 weekend at Norisring showed off the positives of the series including a quality crop of rookies, led by Charles Leclerc.

The FIA F3 European Championship has generated only negative headlines in recent weeks, with good reason after some shambolic driving at Spa and Monza.

The unfortunate thing is that in situations like that, anything related to the series gets tainted with that same brush of negativity. In particular, all of the drivers suffer in terms of their reputations – exactly the thing they are trying to build in a positive way with their performances in each race.

But to me, there were plenty of positive things happening at the Norisring last weekend to remind us what is so great about the European F3 series in 2015.

Yes, there was still plenty of contact, but most of it was completely normal for the Nuremberg street circuit. Almost without exception, every incident took place at the tight first hairpin at the end of the long pit straight – an F3 accident blackspot if ever there was one.

At Spa and Monza, there were instances of reckless, dangerous and brainless driving. Most of what happened at the Norisring was either a bit overambitious or a tad clumsy, and all to be perfectly expected.

And most of it came in the dry conditions of races two and three, and not in the absolutely treacherous rain of race one.

Aside from the incident that triggered the race-ending safety car involving a lapped car that had just exited the pits, the race was almost entirely clean. That was ever so impressive given there had been no wet running prior to that.

More impressive than anybody was the man at the front of that race, Charles Leclerc.

It almost got missed in the Spa fracas that the 17-year-old rookie took the championship lead there. And after the hype surrounding Esteban Ocon and Max Verstappen last year, it would be easy to now dismiss what he’s doing nothing in 2015 as nothing out of the ordinary.

But when you stop and think about it, Leclerc is every bit as impressive as last year’s stars, if not more.

Leclerc receives a trophy from Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen (Photo: FIA F3 European Championship)

Like Ocon, he’s leading the championship, but he’s doing so with quite a bit less Formula Renault 2.0 experience than his fellow Francophone and with the Van Amersfoort squad (in Verstappen’s very car with the same engineer, Rik Vernooij) rather than with the Prema Powerteam that has delivered the last four drivers’ titles.

At the Norisring he was the pace-setter from the get-go, and was opening up a dominant lead in that wet first race when it was nullified by the safety car.

OK, so he didn’t win the other two races, but he was still impressive and in the mix at the front end. He brilliantly balanced bold and risky overtaking attempts with staying out of trouble, and in race two that was particularly notable in the context of his three more experienced title rivals all failing to score.

Admittedly, there was definitely luck involved in that – Antonio Giovinazzi and Jake Dennis were both blameless when taken out of race two, and?Felix Rosenqvist had more than his fair share of points stolen away through no fault of his own at Monza and Spa.

But ultimately, Leclerc has managed to pair front-running pace with consistency and reliability, and that’s nothing but impressive for a driver of such little experience. From 18 races, he’s had just two races wrecked by incident, and luck or no luck, it’s commendable and given him a 42.5-point buffer over the best of his three experienced and fast rivals.

Norisring really highlighted the class in the rookie crop of 2015.

Leclerc’s fellow Formula Renault 2.0 graduate Alex Albon was quick all weekend, and will be disappointed that his first two poles yielded only second and third place finishes.

After struggling to initially build upon his debut win at Silverstone, George Russell found his qualifying speed again and led race two and finished a fine second to Giovinazzi in race three.

Maximilian Gunther qualified on the front row for the first time for race one, but it was from 12th in race two when the German picked up his maiden win after brilliantly staying out of trouble and taking opportunities when they came.

Gunther stole victory in race two (Photo: FIA F3 European Championship)

His Mucke team-mate and old ADAC Formel Masters rival Mikkel Jensen bounced back from the disappointment of Spa when two potential wins went begging to take another pair of top six finishes.

And Lance Stroll also moved on from the events of Spa a week earlier to match his best-yet finish of fourth.

That quintet drivers may be trailing Leclerc and his title rivals, but occupy the next five places in the standings and are all proving their abilities in their rookie campaigns.

With Leclerc, they locked out the top six in race two as the experienced drivers hit trouble. To achieve that at the Norisring is quite something – not only is it a challenging and unique track, but no other junior series races there, so every series rookie was also a Norisring debutant.

For Dorian Boccolacci, Callum Ilott and Alessio Lorandi, the sheer size of the jump up to F3 (from the centrally-run French F4 for Boccolacci, the other two straight from karts) has made their seasons difficult, but they all went well in Nuremberg, showing a glimpse of the form that made them such hot property in karting.

Capitalising on the improved Signature pace demonstrated by Albon, Bococlacci followed up his first points finish at Spa by taking three top-eight finishes. Ilott and Lorandi stayed out of trouble better than many and both took points – Ilott a seventh in race three and Lorandi was twice ninth.

For others, it was a more difficult weekend. But in a series of over 30 drivers where the vast majority have shown some form of promise in the past but only 10 can score points, that’s always going to be the case.

That situation also promotes a higher number of racing incidents, as do the vast majority of the circuits on the calendar – they’re not wide open Tilkedromes, but classic and challenging venues. There’s no excuse for dangerous driving, but close racing can sometimes get just a bit too close.

It takes something remarkable for junior series to make mainstream headlines. But after the negative events of Monza and Spa, the Norisring reminded us of the positives of the remarkable European F3 field of 2015. And of one remarkable talent in particular.

Results Roundup

FIA F3 European Championship ? Round 6/11 ? Norisring, Germany

Charles Leclerc extends his points lead, leading a soaking wet first race from start to finish and then taking safe third and fourth place finishes from the other races. After a second in the first race, Antonio Giovinazzi is taken out of race two but bounces back to win the finale. Felix Rosenqvist only scores once, Jake Dennis doesn’t score at all. Maximilian Gunther takes a maiden win in a manic race two while Alex Albon and George Russell impress with podiums.

Race 1: 1 Leclerc; 2 Rosenqvist; 3 Giovinazzi; 4 Gunther; 5 Albon; 6 Boccolacci
Race 2: 1 Gunther; 2 Albon; 3 Leclerc; 4 Stroll; 5 Russell; 6 Jensen
Race 3: 1 Giovinazzi; 2 Russell; 3 Albon; 4 Leclerc; 5 Jensen; 6 Ferrucci
Standings: Leclerc, 269.5; Giovinazzi, 227; Rosenqvist, 203; Dennis, 189; Russell, 120; Gunther, 111.5
Next round: Zandvoort (11-12 July)

MSA Formula – Round 5/10 – Croft, United Kingdom

Rookie stars Lando Norris and Dan Ticktum clash on final corner of first race, leading to the former’s retirement, the latter’s exclusion, but that was later appealed. After Racing Steps Foundation driver Josh Smith gets first win in reverse-grid race, Fortec team-mate Ticktum wins race three after keeping Norris and points leader Ricky Collard at bay.

Race 1: 1 Ticktum; 2 Fielding; 3 Collard; 4 Reddy; 5 Richardson; 6 Leist
Race 2: 1 Smith; 2 Herta; 3 Richardson; 4 Fielding; 5 Leist; 6 Reddy
Race 3: 1 Ticktum; 2 Collard; 3 Norris; 4 Fielding; 5 Florescu; 6 Richardson
Standings: Collard, 209; Ticktum, 205; Norris, 191; Leist, 158; Fielding, 129; Mitchell/Herta, 99
Next round: Snetterton (8-9 August)

Italian F4 – Round 3/8 – Imola, Italy

Ralf Aron takes the Italian F4 lead back off Prema team-mate Guan Yu Zhou with two wins at Imola, with Zhou settling for second in both races. Both fail to score in race two though, Zhou after a crash and Aron due to a penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. David Beckmann fights back from qualifying exclusion to win reverse grid race.

Race 1: 1 Aron; 2 Zhou; 3 Shwartzman; 4 Sato; 5 Baruch; 6 Siebert
Race 2: 1 Beckmann; 2 Siebert; 3 Baruch; 4 Shwartzman; 5 Shlom; 6 Hoti
Race 3: 1 Aron; 2 Zhou; 3 Vieira; 4 Siebert; 5 Ortmann; 6 Mauron
Standings: Aron 150; Zhou 135; Shwartzman 78; Beckmann 68; Vieira 60; Baruch 60
Next round: Mugello (11-12 July)

Photo: ACI Sport

Japanese F3 – Round 5/8 – Okayama, Japan

Mitsunori Takaboshi ends TOM’s victory streak by winning both races. With second place on both occasions, Kenta Yamashita takes the championship lead away from team-mate Nick Cassidy, who is twice denied a podium finish by Nissan ace Lucas Ordonez.

Race 1: 1 Takaboshi; 2 Yamashita; 3 Ordonez; 4 Fukuzumi; 5 Cassidy; 6 Ishikawa
Race 2: 1 Takaboshi; 2 Yamashita; 3 Ordonez; 4 Cassidy; 5 Fukuzumi; 6 Ishikawa
Standings: Yamashita, 81; Cassidy, 77; Takaboshi, 76; Ordonez, 28; Fukuzumi, 28; Takahashi, 17
Next round: Fuji (18-19 July)

Brazilian F3 – Round 3/8 – Santa Cruz, Brazil

On the weekend his brother Nelson wins the inaugural Formula E title, 16-year-old Pedro Piquet (fresh from an appearance in the Porsche Supercup in Austria) dominates both races. That moves the defending champion into the points lead after a mixed start, as erstwhile leaders?Matheus Iorio and Rodrigo Baptista have poor weekends.

Race 1: 1 Piquet; 2 Cardoso; 3 Cunha; 4 Fortunato; 5 Muniz; 6 Verra
Race 2: 1 Piquet; 2 Cunha; 3 Dapero; 4 Iorio; 5 Bandeira; 6 Samaia
Standings: Piquet, 63; Iorio, 55; Baptista, 41; Cunha, 41; Fortunato, 35; Hahn, 17
Next round: Curitiba (1-2 August)

Formula Renault Argentina ? Round 5/12 ? Rafaela, Argentina

Martin Moggia extends his points advantage with his fifth win from as many rounds in race two, after beaten to the win in race one by Emiliano Marino who takes second in standings from Marcelo Ciarrocchi, who fails to finish race one and is disqualified from race two

Race 1: 1 Marino; 2 Moggia, 3 Cabrera; 4 Cavagnero; 5 Rolando; 6 Conci
Race 2: 1 Moggia; 2 Cazal; 3 Cavagnero; 4 Conci; 5 Cabrera; 6 Marino
Standings: Moggia, 169; Marino, 120; Ciarrochi, 106; Dominici, 84; Cabrera, 68; Lima, 52
Next round: San Juan (25-26 July)

The post Weekend Review: Impressive Leclerc opens up F3 lead at Norisring appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Gruppe C GmbH/ADAC

For the second week in a row, crash-strewn junior races are the big talking point of the week, this time in ADAC F4. Valentin Khorounzhiy gives his thoughts on the situation.

?This should not and will not happen again,? Lechner Racing protege Florian Janits said after hitting Job van Uitert at turn one in ADAC F4’s final Spielberg race. It wasn’t the very capable Austrian’s finest move, but his incident was far from the most egregious this weekend.

Indeed, it’s not been a great couple of weeks for FIA’s junior ladder as the well-publicised disaster of a European F3 round at Monza has now been followed up with an ADAC F4 outing that was less of a trainwreck, but just enough to generate some pretty woeful headlines for the series.

While Saturday’s only race produced two relatively tame incidents, all hell broke loose on Sunday. First, Thomas Preining hit Mick Schumacher on the main straight, resulting in a broken hand for the series’ most popular driver. But that was followed up by an even worse crash in the opening lap of the final race ? Mattia Drudi rejoined the track at high speed, spun himself over Ralf Aron and triggered a very nasty pileup.

Several cars were out for the day, but rising Ferrari star Guan Yu Zhou had the worst of it, losing almost half his car in a high-speed roll. It was honestly a surprise to even see the race restarted ? and, conversely, quite unsurprising to see it canned early after two more crashes.

Crashes happen in racing, of course. But that’s now two weeks in a row that a junior championship has been called short of the checkered flag amidst carnage. It definitely makes sense to wonder what exactly is at play here.

Let’s get the really obvious one out of the way from the get go ? the thing European F3 and ADAC F4 have in common is that they’re ludicrously popular, with grid sizes unrivaled by other professional international single-seater championships.

ADAC F4 is so in demand it actually has non-qualifiers, which does seem rather harsh on young racers who got their sponsorship together to be there. But even with DNQs, the grid size at Spielberg was at 37 cars.

Even disregarding skill and experience levels and other variables like that, simple maths will tell you this bumps the probability of incidents up quite a notch compared to your usual 20-car grid. More incidents mean more safety cars, more safety cars mean the field getting bunched up all over again – ‘cautions breeding cautions’, if you like. Some will tell you that means less safety cars need to be called out, but I won’t be one of them.

Photo: Gruppe C GmbH/ADAC

In addition, just as European F3, ADAC F4 boasts a very, very strong this year, possibly as strong as it gets in entry-level championships. At Spielberg, that meant that 26 cars qualified within a second of the top times in their respective groups. That’s not exactly a field that’s going to spread out as the race goes on.

And that might be part of the problem in a different sense. Some overtaking attempts at Spielberg seemed downright desperate, as did some defensive moves and that’s hardly surprising. For many of these drivers, this season is make-or-break and they’ve been thrust into a grid that has about 20 names just as quick as them. Most of them won’t get many chances to score a top result ? and Spielberg, due to its overtake-heavy nature, represents one of the better opportunities to fight through to a finish that can secure your future.

The biggest hit of the weekend took place right after Drudi rejoined from the runoff at the first corner and spun himself over Aron. Monza’s Parabolica runoff was heftily blamed for a good chunk of last weekend’s carnage, albeit, as someone who saw Sun Zheng dip into the gravel that used to be there and get collected by a flat-out Matevos Isaakyan last year in FR2.0 Alps, I implore people not to oversimplify the issue.

The current situation at Turn 1, however, clearly needs some work because the runoff means that the available track narrows dramatically in a very short distance, almost asking for an incident like this.

Drudi, of course, should’ve eased off the throttle. But it’s not hard to see why he didn’t ? it’s a split-second decision between either doing something other drivers have gotten away with all weekend and keeping a good spot, or losing momentum and dropping well out of the top ten. He’s a title contender so, for him, the difference between finishing, say, 11^th, 35^th or retiring altogether is virtually non-existent ? all are non-scores.

It is also worth noting this particular misjudgment was made by one of the series’ finest ? a driver who last year did the first-ever hat-trick of wins in an FIA F4 series. Not that the rest of those who caused trouble don’t deserve to be here ? Preining’s a Rotax karting star, Janits is a race winner in Renault 1.6, Robert Shwartzman, whose failed overtake on David Beckmann eventually led to the red flag, is one of Russia’s biggest prospects. Even Schumacher himself caused a crash on Saturday and there won’t be many who argue he doesn’t belong on the grid.

It’s arguable, of course, but for my money, the issue is not the drivers, nor is it a lack of some nebulous notion of ‘respect’ or, even worse, ‘fear’. It’s just a direct result of putting a number of inexperienced racers in the competition of their lives.

Photo: Gruppe C GmbH/ADAC

So, how can this whole situation be solved? Well, there’s not much the FIA can do this year, sporting regulations being set in stone and all, except maybe be stricter in enforcing penalties for undesirable on-track behaviour ? a fine goal, though probably not the instant solution to every problem some might think it is.

Personally, should ADAC F4 aim for a similar grid size next year, I would heartily welcome a huge rethink of the points system for 2016. When there’s more than two dozen drivers within one second of the leader, only handing points to nine of them is not only unfair, but also conducive for unreasonable risk-taking in the lower reaches of the pack.

But, at the end of the day, filling the grid with 40 people straight out of karting is just not very safe or particularly educational ? it is unlikely they will have to face such numbers anywhere else further along in their single-seater careers.

The entry list should be capped, as bad for business as that sounds. And if demand remains this high, there should be an alternative supply. The most recent competitor to what was then ADAC Formel Masters in this region was Formula Renault 1.6 NEC, which would’ve certainly helped the new F4 series manage grid numbers if it didn’t go under. But it did and something is needed to fill that void instead.

The solutions, however, all mostly seem long-term. With entries paid and budgets settled, it’s not easy to imagine what the FIA and ADAC could do right now to prevent a repeat of this further down the calendar. But one thing’s for sure – crossing fingers and closing eyes is not an option. Especially not when the next track ADAC F4 will be visiting is Spa-Francorchamps.

Results Roundup

Formula Renault 2.0 Alps ? Round 4/7 ? Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

Jake Hughes?and Matevos Isaakyan?win the two respective races to close in on championship leader Jack Aitken and, with eight races to go, the title will almost certainly be decided among the trio. Isaakyan’s teammate Thiago Vivacqua helps him out by taking points out of the Koiranen duo with two podiums.

Race 1: 1 Hughes; 2 M. Isaakyan; 3 Vivacqua; 4 Aitken; 5 Riener; 6 Pronenko
Race 2: 1 M. Isaakyan; 2 Vivacqua; 3 Hughes; 4 Aitken; 5 Romanov; 6 Hamprecht
Standings: Aitken, 149; Hughes, 142; M. Isaakyan, 129; Riener, 109; Vivacqua, 101
Next round: Monza (4-5 July)

Photo: Fast Lane Promotion

Formula Renault 2.0 NEC ? Round 3/7 ? Spielberg, Austria

Josef Kaufmann Racing duo Kevin Jorg and Louis Deletraz run the show, locking out the top two in each of the three races by a considerable margin. Jorg wins the first two, but Deletraz gets the last laugh and now enjoys a sizeable lead in the points. Behind them, Jehan Daruvala, Alex Gill and Nikita Mazepin all take their first podium finishes.

Race 1: 1 Jorg; 2 Deletraz; 3 Daruvala; 4 O’Keeffe; 5 Gill; 6 Habsburg
Race 2: 1 Jorg; 2 Deletraz; 3 Gill; 4 Daruvala; 5 Eastwood; 6 O’Keeffe
Race 3: 1 Deletraz; 2 Jorg; 3 Mazepin; 4 O’Keeffe; 5 Habsburg; 6 Sasahara
Standings: Deletraz, 175; Jorg, 129; Sasahara, 124; O’Keeffe, 101; Gill, 90; Daruvala, 78
Next round: Spa-Francorchamps (25-26 July)

Euroformula Open ? Round 4/8 ? Silverstone, United Kingdom

Yu Kanamaru?enters title picture as the round’s top scorer, winning the first race and finishing runner-up to points leader Konstantin Tereshchenko in the second. Two podiums for Vitor Baptista keep him in the hunt, while Alessio Rovera returns to form with a third place on Saturday.

Race 1: 1 Kanamaru; 2 Baptista; 3 Rovera; 4 Stern; 5 Menchaca; 6 Fioravanti
Race 2: 1 Tereshchenko; 2 Kanamaru; 3 Baptista; 4 Pulcini; 5 Rovera; 6 Sathienthirakul
Standings: Tereshchenko, 155; Baptista, 147; Kanamaru, 119; Rovera, 92; Sathienthirakul, 70; Stern, 57
Next round: Spielberg (4-5 July)

ADAC F4 ? Round 2/8 ? Spielberg, Austria

Joel Eriksson wins twice to take the points lead, even if a race three pileup stops him from adding to the tally. The shortened finale is won by Joseph Mawson. Oschersleben stars Marvin Dienst and Ralf Aron have tough weekends, but both make podium appearances.

Race 1: 1 Eriksson; 2 Aron; 3 Zhou; 4 Waldherr; 5 Zimmermann; 6 Shwartzman
Race 2: 1 Eriksson; 2 Zimmermann; 3 Dienst, 4 Drudi; 5 Waldherr; 6 Esmeijer
Race 3: 1 Mawson; 2 Esmeijer; 3 Beckmann; 4 Waldherr; 5 Cecotto; 6 Schramm
Standings: Eriksson, 74; Dienst, 73; Mawson, 64; Aron, 63; Waldherr, 48; Drudi, 47
Next round: Spa-Francorchamps (20-21 June)

MSA Formula ? Round 4/10 ? Oulton Park, United Kingdom

Ricky Collard and Lando Norris share wins to edge clear of former leader Dan Ticktum, while the reverse-grid race is claimed by first-time winner Sennan Fielding. Matheus Leist posts three top-five finishes, while a maiden podium is secured by Colton Herta.

Race 1: 1 Collard; 2 Norris; 3 Herta; 4 Martins; 5 Leist; 6 Barlow
Race 2: 1 Fielding; 2 Leist; 3 Ticktum; 4 Baybutt; 5 Barlow; 6 Herta
Race 3: 1 Norris; 2 Collard; 3 Fielding; 4 Leist; 5 Ticktum; 6 Florescu
Standings: Collard, 175; Norris, 168; Ticktum, 149; Leist, 134; Mitchell, 89; Fielding, 87
Next round: Croft (27-28 June)

SMP F4 ? Round 2/7 ? Moscow Raceway, Russia

Finns Aleksanteri Huovinen and Niko Kari star, making the podium in all three races and grabbing a win each. Aleksey Korneev bounces back after stalling from pole in race one to win race three, while Vladimir Atoev and Nikita Sitnikov also claim home-soil podiums.

Race 1: 1 Huovinen; 2 Kari; 3 Atoev; 4 Sitnikov; 5 N. Isaakyan; 6 Maslennikov
Race 2: 1 Kari; 2 Huovinen; 3 Sitnikov; 4 N. Isaakyan; 5 Atoev; 6 Troitskiy
Race 3: 1 Korneev; 2 Kari; 3 Huovinen; 4 Nylund; 5 Troitskiy; 6 N. Isaakyan
Standings: Huovinen, 117; Kari, 99; Atoev, 75; Troitskiy, 53; N. Isaakyan, 52; Sitnikov, 47
Next round: Sochi (19-20 July)

Photo: SMP F4

Japanese F3 ? Round 4/8 ? Fuji, Japan

In spite of best efforts from first-time poleman Nirei Fukuzumi and B-Max leader Mitsunori Takaboshi, the TOM’S winning streak continues, with Kenta Yamashita and Nick Cassidy sharing wins. Cassidy increases lead, but teammate remains within one race’s points haul.

Race 1: 1 Yamashita; 2 Cassidy; 3 Takaboshi; 4 Sasaki; 5 Fukuzumi; 6 Ishikawa
Race 2: 1 Cassidy; 2 Takaboshi; 3 Yamashita; 4 Fukuzumi; 5 Sasaki; 6 Ishikawa
Standings: Cassidy, 72; Yamashita, 63; Takaboshi, 56; Fukuzumi, 23; Ordonez, 18; Takahashi, 17
Next round: Okayama (27-28 June)

Formula Masters China ? Round 2/6 ? Shanghai, China

Martin Rump wins twice despite grid penalty and takes championship lead. However, Jake Parsons responds with wet-weather victory in race three and is just one point adrift. Their respective teammates Nicholas Rowe and Daniel Woodroof make podium appearances, as does local Yuan Bo.

Race 1: 1 Rump; 2 Woodroof; 3 Parsons; 4 Rowe; 5 Read; 6 Hudspeth
Race 2: 1 Rump; 2 Rowe; 3 Woodroof; 4 Read; 5 Tomoki Takahashi; 6 Bo
Race 3: 1 Parsons; 2 Rump; 3 Bo; 4 Swanepoel; 5 Read; 6 Tae
Standings: Rump, 81; Parsons, 80; Read, 52; Woodroof, 42; Rowe, 39; Swanepoel, 32
Next round: Penbay (4-5 July)

Formula Renault Argentina ? Round 4/12 ? Rio Hondo, Argentina

17-year-old Martin Moggia starts to pull away in the standings lead, finishing runner-up to first-time winner Gaston Cabrera in race one and taking the race two honours. Of his nearest rivals, Marino Ciarrocchi takes a runner-up finish, whereas Emiliano Marino struggles. 2014 runner-up Federico Cavagnero returns to claim a podium, while Nazareno Beguiristain posts maiden top-three.

Race 1: 1 Cabrera; 2 Moggia, 3 Cavagnero; 4 Ciarrochi; 5 Satler; 6 Zurita
Race 2: 1 Moggia; 2 Ciarrochi; 3 Beguiristain; 4 Dominici; 5 Lima; 6 Zurita
Standings: Moggia, 132; Ciarrochi, 105; Marino, 93; Dominici, 66; Cabrera, 63; Lima, 52
Next round: Rafaela (27-28 June)

F4 Sudamericana ? Round 2/8 ? Santa Cruz, Brazil

Despite a DNS in race one, former Ginetta Junior racer Pedro Cardoso vaults to the top of the standings by winning race two. Race one, meanwhile, is won by 2014 returnee Francisco Camarotta. Agustin Lima, who led after El Pinar, skips the round to race in Formula Renault Argentina.

Race 1: 1 Camarotta; 2 Casella; 3 Muraglia; 4 Guedes; 5 Pflucker; 6 Caland
Race 2: 1 Cardoso; 2 Camarotta; 3 Casella; 4 Guedes; 5 Pflucker; 6 Caland
Standings: Cardoso, 61; Casella, 58; Guedes, 57; Camarotta, 45; Lima, 42; Muraglia, 35
Next round: Mercedes (19 July)

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Photo: FIA F3 European Championship

Peter Allen looks back at the Pau Grand Prix weekend, where Jake Dennis found winning ways to prove he could yet be a factor in the European F3 title race.

Prior to last weekend’s Pau Grand Prix meeting, one could have been forgiven for seeing the FIA F3 European Championship title fight as a three-horse race already.

Antonio Giovinazzi, Charles Leclerc and Felix Rosenqvist had completely dominated the podium at Hockenheim, and in the standings, third-placed Rosenqvist had exactly twice as many points (92) as the driver in fourth.

That driver was Jake Dennis. Ninth in his rookie season last year, a move from Carlin to Prema for his second campaign put Dennis among the pre-season favourites for 2015. He struggled to live up to this status in the opening two rounds, however.

He was twice on the podium at Silverstone but was taken out of race two at the penultimate corner as he scrapped for minor points after stalling at the start. At Hockenheim, he was fourth in race one but was forced to start from the pitlane in race two after more problems with a new starting system, and a lowly eighth in race three after a poor qualifying.

Pau was always going to be a big weekend for Dennis to get his season kick-started. After all, at the beginning of last year he had low-key weekends at Silverstone and Hockenheim but then enjoyed his best event of the season in Pau – helped by experience from the prior year’s Formula Renault 2.0 race there – and triggered an improved run of form during the summer. If he was going to perform anywhere this season, it would be here.

This year, qualifying had held him back in the opening rounds versus his rivals, but Pau presented a great chance to put that right thanks to the grouping system (based on car numbers) which had put the championship top three in the first group and Dennis in the second. He fully maximised that opportunity to claim a hat-trick of poles.

In the races, there was no repeat of problems with the start system as Dennis got good enough launches on every occasion to retain the lead off the line. In race one he absorbed race-long pressure from Giovinazzi and Leclerc to take his maiden F3 victory, while in race two he survived a total of four safety car restarts – one after a red flag – to double up.

He looked comfortable in race three and seemed to be heading to Pau Grand Prix glory, but damaged suspension caused him to drop back as Giovinazzi stole victory.

Had he completed the treble, Dennis would have climbed to third in the standings ahead of Prema team-mate Rosenqvist (who could only manage a best finish of fifth during the weekend). As it is, he’s 14 points behind and further off the lead than he was before the weekend, but he’s proven he can be a factor in the title race.

More importantly than the points haul at this early stage of the season, Dennis has shown he has what it takes to lead the pack. This might have been just one weekend, but if he can repeat it elsewhere, he can be a championship contender.

Dennis won twice, but Giovinazzi and Leclerc remained consistent (Photo: FIA F3 European Championship)

Giovinazzi and Leclerc becoming permanent podium fixtures

Despite leading all but the last few laps of the entire Pau weekend, that non-score in the final race means that Dennis was out-scored by Giovinazzi over the course of the weekend, 50 points to 58. The Italian has continued his remarkable early-season consistency, and extended his 100 per cent podium record to nine races.

We knew from the second half of last season that Giovinazzi could be quick on his day, but he came into the season having not yet proven his consistency. If anything, any doubts around him now can only be about outright pace, as he’s yet to start on pole position yet this season.

Still, even though his Pau Grand Prix triumph was only the second win from his run of nine podiums, he’s proven adept at getting the most out of races. Indeed, at the weekend he moved forward from his grid position in each race.

It’s says something about Leclerc’s form as a rookie that three more podiums in Pau could be considered to be a “quite disappointing” return from his weekend’s efforts.

Having won in his first race weekends at both Silverstone and Hockenheim, expectation was that he could do the same in Pau, where he finished second in FR2.0 last year.

The pace was good in practice and qualifying but the grouping was weighted against him and prevented him from taking pole. But at the same time, he spurned his front row starts with poor getaways, and struggled to overtake in the races.

He needed some good fortune to make the podium in the final race but in doing so extended his rostrum streak to eight and keeps him well in touch with Giovinazzi. And his pace is such that he’s made the front row six times, more than anyone else.

Rosenqvist had been unbeaten in qualifying heading to Pau and won the main race there last year, but the F3 veteran made a mess of both of Friday’s sessions and after failing to progress into the points in race one, did a decent recovery job to take fifth and sixth in the remaining two. With Giovinazzi and Leclerc looking so strong, there won’t be room for the Swede to have many more weekends like this if he wants to live up to his title favourite status.

Back to the rookies, and Maximilian Gunther proved his Hockenheim pace was about more than just local knowledge as the ADAC Formel Masters produced a repeat hat-trick of P3 grid positions on his first visit to Pau. The grouping was favourable, but he was the nearest challenger to Dennis each time.

In the races, he couldn’t keep pace with the cars ahead of him and broke his string of top-five finishes in race when the late defence of a move from Giovinazzi sent him into the barriers, but he finally turned his starting position into a podium finish in race three when he was rewarded for keeping Leclerc behind with a P2 in the Grand Prix.

Gunther’s maiden podium came in the Grand Prix (Photo: FIA F3 European Championship)

Silverstone winner George Russell couldn’t leave his Hockenheim qualifying difficulties behind despite favourable grouping, but raced well to make the points in all three races. Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Mikkel Jensen also scored well, and this quartet of rookies deservedly hold top 9 positions in the standings.

Leclerc’s Van Amersfoort team-mates and fellow youngsters Arjun Maini and Alessio Lorandi hadn’t troubled the scoreboard in the opening two weekends but came on strong in Pau, first topping practice sessions and then qualifying well. Maini turned that into a fourth and a fifth after some clean races while Lorandi belied his inexperience to take a sixth and a seventh.

Results Roundup

FIA F3 European Championship – Round 3/11 – Pau, France

Jake Dennis takes his first two F3 wins after locking out all pole position for all three races. He’s on course for a treble and victory in the Pau Grand Prix until a damaged wishbone slows him, handing the win to Antonio Giovinazzi. The championship leader and rival Charles Leclerc continue their podium streaks and?Maximilian Gunther finally gets his first, but Felix Rosenqvist struggles.

Race 1: 1 Dennis; 2 Giovinazzi; 3 Leclerc; 4 Gunther; 5 Albon; 6 Lorandi
Race 2: 1 Dennis; 2 Leclerc; 3 Giovinazzi; 4 Maini; 5 Rosenqvist; 6 Russell
Race 3: 1 Giovinazzi; 2 Gunther; 3 Leclerc; 4 Stroll; 5 Maini; 6 Rosenqvist
Standings: Giovinazzi, 164; Leclerc, 149; Rosenqvist, 110; Dennis, 96; Gunther, 54; Russell, 57
Next round: Monza (30-31 May)

Formula Renault 2.0 Alps – Round 2/7 – Pau, France

Anthoine Hubert dominates in Pau, winning both races from pole. His status as a guest driver means Matevos Isaakyan and Jake Hughes take top points for P2 finishes, and eighth and sixth still equals good points for leader Jack Aitken, keeping him ahead of Koiranen team-mates Stefan Riener and Hughes. FR3.5 racer and Pau expert Matthieu Vaxiviere gets a podium.

Race 1: 1 Hubert; 2 Isaakyan; 3 Gachet; 4 Kodric; 5 Hughes; 6 Riener
Race 2: 1 Hubert; 2 Hughes; 3 Vaxiviere; 4 Gachet; 5 Riener; 6 Aitken
Standings: Aitken, 75; Riener, 66; Hughes, 61; Isaakyan, 43; Vivacqua, 31; Hamprecht, 26
Next round: Spielberg (23-24 May)

Photo: Fast Lane Promotion

French F4 – Round 3/9 – Pau, France

Sacha Fenestraz takes the French F4 points lead with wins in the two main races in Pau, forcing erstwhile leader Valentin Moineault to settle for second both times. Axel Matus wins a scrappy reverse grid race ahead of a consistently-scoring Giuliano Alesi while Gabriel Aubry also scores well.

Race 1: 1 Fenestraz; 2 Moineault; 3 Aubry; 4 Laaksonen; 5 Alesi; 6 Kressner
Race 2: 1 Matus; 2 Alesi; 3 Darras; 4 Aubry; 5 Ye; 6 Darniche
Race 3: 1 Fenestraz; 2 Moineault; 3 Aubry; 4 Alesi; 5 Kressner; 6 Laaksonen
Standings: Fenestraz, 118; Moineault, 111; Alesi, 97.5; Matus, 84; Aubry, 73; Darras, 70
Next round: Hungaroring (13-14 June)

SMP F4 – Round 1/7 – Ahvenisto, Finland

The first ever SMP F4 event sees Formula Ford graduate Aleksanteri Huovinen win the opening two races on home soil. Fellow Finn Niko Kari wins the third race on the road but is penalised for an infringement at the start, handing victory to Nikita Troitskiy. Double pole-sitter Vladimir Atoev is second in the standings after a third, second and fourth.

Race 1: 1 Huovinen; 2 Kari; 3 Atoev; 4 Isaakyan; 5 Ahmed; 6 Matveev
Race 2: 1 Huovinen; 2 Atoev; 3 Ahmed; 4 Eriksson; 5 Matveev; 6 Troitskiy
Race 3: 1 Troitskiy; 2 Kari; 3 Eriksson; 4 Atoev; 5 Isaakyan; 6 Huovinen
Standings: Huovinen, 59; Atoev, 46; Kari, 38; Troitskiy, 35; Eriksson, 30; Isaakyan/Matveev, 22
Next round: Moscow (5-7 June)

Formula Renault Argentina – Round 3/12 – Obera, Argentina

Martin Moggia takes the standings lead with another win and second place, while erstwhile leader Emiliano Marino is third in race one but then only seventh in race two. Marcelo Ciarrochi matches Moggia’s results to remain in contention.

Race 1: 1 Moggia; 2 Ciarrocchi; 3 Marino; 4 Dominici; 5 Lima; 6 Beguiristain
Race 2: 1 Ciarrocchi; 2 Moggia; 3 Bundziak; 4 Rolando; 5 Conta; 6 Lima
Standings: Moggia, 96; Marino, 84; Ciarrocchi, 79; Dominici, 55; Lima, 43; Cabrera, 39
Next round: Rio Hondo (6-7 June)

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Photo: FIA F3 European Championship

For the second consecutive European F3 round, the three races at Hockenheim were won by three different drivers, and with having dominated the podium across the weekend, the trio have cemented themselves as early title contenders split by just 12 points.

As at Silverstone, Felix Rosenqvist was quickest in qualifying for all three races, but in race one it was Antonio Giovinazzi that scored his first win of the year with a first-lap pass in the wet. In races two and three the Italian recovered from the third row of the grid to finish third and keep up a 100 per cent podium record this season and retain the points lead.

Rosenqvist – racing at Hockenheim for the 10th time in his F3 career – was able to convert pole into a commanding victory in a dry race two, but was made to settle for second in the wet again in race three by Charles Leclerc.

The Monegasque rookie improved throughout his maiden race weekend at the German circuit, from third to race one, to second in race two and then his second victory of the campaign. He’s now just five points behind Giovinazzi heading the more familiar surrounds of Pau.

Rosenqvist was still the weekend’s top scorer and is only seven points further back. His 92 points are exactly twice as many as the next highest-scoring driver Jake Dennis, who was fourth in race one but further back later on. Silverstone debut winner George Russell scored just two points all weekend after a nightmare pair of qualifying sessions.

Maximilian Gunther took his turn to shine on home ground, qualifying third for all three races. He would fail to finish on the podium (denied by a last lap spin in race three) but still took a fourth and two fifths. Peter Allen

Round 2/11 ? Hockenheim, Germany
Race 1: 1 Giovinazzi; 2 Rosenqvist; 3 Leclerc; 4 Dennis; 5 Gunther; 6 Stroll
Race 2: 1 Rosenqvist; 2 Leclerc; 3 Giovinazzi; 4 Gunther; 5 Ilott; 6 Ferrucci
Race 3: 1 Leclerc; 2 Rosenqvist; 3 Giovinazzi; 4 Jensen; 5 Gunther; 6 Stroll
Standings: Giovinazzi, 106; Leclerc, 101; Rosenqvist, 92; Dennis, 46; Russell, 41; Stroll, 36
Next round: Pau (15-17 May)

Auto GP:?Regalia and Pizzonia share wins as new season kicks off at the Hungaroring

Photo: Auto GP

The sixth edition of Auto GP has begun with a now?traditional support slot at?the Hungarian round of World Touring Car Championship. Although the grid size decreased to nine, the field still featured established single-seater racers such as ex-F1 racer Antonio Pizzonia, GP2 regular Johnny Cecotto and?2013 GP3 runner-up Facu Regalia.

Starting from pole, Zele’s Pizzonia dominated most of the wet race one, leading the field until the final lap, when a mistake cost him the victory as he gifted it to Regalia. Pizzonia had to do with second and the podium was completed by Swiss driver Christof von Grunigen.

The Brazilian fought back in race two, impressively taking the lead in lap one, despite starting seventh. As nobody was able to stay close to him this time around, Pizzonia claimed a dominant victory. 16-year-old Leonardo Pulcini had to defend from Cecotto throughout the race but the Italian?s position became safe when Cecotto lost significant amount of time due to a spin. However, the former GP2 driver did not lose his place and he completed the podium.

Taking first and second, Pizzonia is the initial leader of the championship with Regalia and Pulcini being their closest pursuers.

Round 1/6 – Hungaroring, Hungary
Race 1: 1 Regalia; 2 Pizzonia; 3 Von Grunigen; 4 Pulcini; 5 Cecotto; 6 Sa Silva
Race 2: 1 Pizzonia; 2 Pulcini; 3 Cecotto; 4 Sa Silva; 5 Zlobin; 6 Regalia
Standings: Pizzonia, 41; Regalia, 32; Pulcini, 27; Cecotto, 22; Von Grunigen, 18; Sa Silva, 18;
Next round: Silverstone (23-24 May)

Italian F4: Aron draws first blood with double win, Beckmann triumphs?in second race start

Photo: ACI Sport

Formula Renault 1.6 graduate Ralf Aron made a fine start to the Italian F4 campaign, taking two wins and leading the championship after the first round at Vallelunga. This was the Estonian’s second race weekend of the year – he’s currently second in the standings in ADAC F4.

If his first win was a sublime lights to flag victory, the win in race three showcased his racecraft and awareness. Having started fourth, he shot up to second on the first lap, then passed Prema teammate Guanyu Zhou for the lead, and spent the rest of the race defending his position brilliantly.

Ferrari junior Zhou may have failed to match his teammate, but it was still a strong start for him, taking fourth in race one and eighth in race two before finishing second from pole in the final race.

Aron wasn’t the only ADAC F4 runner in the field. German powerhouse Mucke fielded a trio of drivers, with German David Beckmann being the most successful at Vallelunga, taking a commanding win from second in the reverse-grid race, while teammate Robert Shwartzman finished third in race one and fifth in race two.

Joao Vieira was the pick of the series sophomores, holding off Shwartzman to take second and fourth in the first two races, but was guilty of colliding with Beckmann in race three and was subsequently penalised. Fellow series returnees Bar Baruch, Lucas Mauron and Matteo Desideri too shone with a podium apiece.

A point-less finish?in race two notwithstanding, Aron has a sizeable points lead over teammate Zhou after round one, while four points cover the next four drivers in the standings.?Aditya Banerjee

Round 1/7?Vallelunga, Italy
Race 1: 1 Aron; 2 Vieira; 3 Shwartzman; 4 Zhou; 5 Rindlisbacher; 6 Kanayet
Race 2: 1 Beckmann; 2 Baruch; 3 Mauron; 4 Vieira; 5 Shwartzman; 6 Kanayet
Race 3: 1 Aron; 2 Zhou; 3 Desideri; 4 Baiz; 5 Beckmann; 6 Mauron
Standings: Aron 56; Zhou 31; Beckmann 25; Vieira 24; Shwartzman 21; Mauron 21
Next round: Monza (30-31 May)

French F4:?Moineault takes championship lead in rainy weekend

Just like in the season opener, the French F4 field had to face difficult weather conditions at Le Mans as well with the qualifying and all three races being run on wet asphalt.

Car racing newcomers Alexey Korneev and Sacha Fenestraz showcased their race-crafts by passing experienced drivers Axel Matus and Valentin Moineault to take first and second respectively ahead of the aforementioned sophomore duo.

Another two karting graduates impressed in the second, reverse-grid race. Julien Darras took full advantage of his pole position to celebrate maiden single-seater victory ahead of Nikita Troitskiy, who fought his way up from fifth. Finn Simo Laaksonen and Fenestraz took third and fourth to convert a top-five result from race one into another.

The man of race three was Fenestraz, who confidently led the way during two safety car periods, only to drop down to eighth due to technical problems with his car. As such, Moineault inherited first which was his second victory out of the previous seven French F4 races. Troitskiy and Darras took podium finishes once again in second and third.

Being the only two drivers to finish all races of the season in the top eight so far, Moineault leaves Le Mans with first place in the standings, eight points ahead of Fenestraz. Two-times race winner at Ledenon, Giuliano Alesi had a quiet weekend as his best finish was only fifth. Gruz David

Round 2/9 ? Le Mans, France
Race 1: 1 Korneev; 2 Fenestraz; 3 Matus; 4 Moineault; 5 Laaksonen; 6 Troitskiy
Race 2: 2 Darras; 2 Troitskiy; 3 Laaksonen; 4 Fenestraz; 5 Alesi; 6 Moineault
Race 3: 1 Moineault; 2 Troitskiy; 3 Darras; 4 Korneev; 5 Kressner; 6 Andlauer
Standings: Moineault, 73; Fenestraz, 65; Alesi, 57.5; Darras, 55; Matus, 51; Troitskiy, 48
Next round: Pau (16-17 May)

BRDC F4: Mealin takes lead, O’Brien and Fonseca score first wins

Photo: Duo BRDC F4

When HHC drivers Harri Newey and Will Palmer locked out the front row in qualifying, there was very little reason to suspect that Lanan Racing would have a monopoly on the top three in points after Rockingham.

Yet race one set the tone for a very unconventional BRDC F4 round as Newey broke down before the start and Palmer collided with SWR’s Jordan Albert in the rain on lap one.

The ensuing pileup paved way for an easy maiden win for Lanan’s Rodrigo Fonseca and podium finishes for Ameya Vaidyanathan and Jack Lang, both of whom had started well outside the top ten.

It also allowed Michael O’Brien to take reverse-grid pole for race two, which the MGR driver made the most of, brilliantly controlling the race ahead of sophomores Tom Jackson and Albert.

But the real standout performance came from championship leader Chris Mealin in race three. The Manxman started behind his two Lanan teammates, but picked off Jack Bartholomew early on and then stole the win from Fonseca on the final lap.

SWR’s Zubair Hoque drove an extremely smart race to secure the final podium spot ahead of Bartholomew. Valentin Khorounzhiy

Round 2/8 ? Rockingham, Great Britain
Race 1: 1 Fonseca; 2 Vaidyanathan; 3 Lang; 4 Mealin; 5 Albert; 6 Bartholomew
Race 2: 1 O’Brien; 2 Jackson; 3 Albert; 4 Newey; 5 Palmer; 6 Mealin
Race 3: 1 Mealin; 2 Fonseca; 3 Hoque; 4 Bartholomew; 5 Jackson; 6 Lang
Standings: Mealin, 140; Fonseca, 126; Bartholomew, 104; Palmer, 103; Jackson, 99; Newey, 83
Next round: Silverstone (30-31 May)

Japanese F4: Makino and Tsuboi trade blows at Fuji

Photo: FIA F4 Japanese Championship

The FIA F4 Japanese Championship might be only two rounds old, but it seems it already has its clear-cut favorites.

Tadasuke Makino, who won both races of the opener, swept both qualifying sessions and was set to continue his streak.

But he was denied by his main rival Sho Tsuboi, who fought his way up from fifth to pass the championship leader for the win.

The duo then started the second race from the front row, but Tsuboi was spun around and Makino went on to claim his third win, holding off Yuichi Mikasa.

Having recovered to ninth, Tsuboi now trails Makino by 23 points – yet he still has more than twice the tally of anyone else in the field.

After drawing a blank at Okayama, Shinnosuke Yamada was third in both Fuji races and currently leads the fight for best of the rest. Valentin Khorounzhiy

Round 2/7 ? Fuji, Japan
Race 1: 1 Tsuboi; 2 Makino; 3 Yamada; 4 Ohtsu; 5 Kawabata; 6 Hiraki
Race 2: 1 Makino; 2 Mikasa; 3 Yamada; 4 Shinohara; 5 Ishizaka; 6 Nakanishi
Standings: Makino, 75; Tsuboi, 52; Yamada, 24; Ohtsu, 24; Mikasa, 23; Hiraki, 22;
Next round: Fuji (8-9 August)

Formula Renault Argentina: Moggia and Marino with a win each

Photo: formulas-argentinas.com.ar

Emiliano Marino leads the Formula Renault Argentina standings after his first win of the year at round two at Rio Cuarto. After finishing second to Martin Moggia in race one, Marino turned the tables in race two and retains an eight-point lead.

Marcelo Ciarrocchi, who won at the Junin season opener, joined Moggia and Marino on the podium in race one, while Gaston Cabrera took his turn in race two. The consistent?Nicolas Dominici twice finished fourth to sit third in the standings. Peter Allen

Round 2/12 ? Rio Cuarto, Argentina
Race 1: 1 Moggia; 2 Marino; 3 Ciarrocchi ; 4 Dominici; 5 Cabrera; 6 Dapero
Race 2: 1 Marino; 2 Moggia; 3 Cabrera; 4 Dominici; 5 Ciarrocchi ; 6 Lima
Standings: Marino, 67; Moggia, 59; Dominici, 44; Ciarrocchi, 43; Cabrera, 38; Lima, 28;
Next round: Obera (16-17 May)

Star Driver: Charles Leclerc

We came very close to awarding this to somebody else in an attempt to stop Leclerc from holding the title too often this year, but in the end it was unavoidable. He was a close match for the more experienced Rosenqvist and Giovinazzi at Hockenheim, is just five points off the standings lead, and his drive to victory in race three past Rosenqvist was exquisite. If he was he was that good with such a deficit in circuit experience, what will he be like at Pau?

Photo: FIA F3 European Championship

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