In the wake of the Nürburgring meeting, the Formula Renault Eurocup returns to action this Friday at another emblematic F1 circuit, the Red Bull Ring. At the foot of the Austrian Alps, all the contenders will try to head off on vacation on a high note in copying Éric Salignon, Oliver Rowland or Lando Norris.
The fight heats up
With his win at the Nürburgring, Robert Shwartzman (R-ace GP) reclaimed the lead in the Formula Renault Eurocup for the first time since Monza. Nevertheless, the Russian is closely followed by another winner in Germany, Sacha Fenestraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Will Palmer (R-ace GP), who wants to return to the top spot as soon as possible.
All three will rely on their experience in Austria to take a psychological and points advantage over their rivals before the summer break, but they cannot afford to under estimate Max Defourny (R-ace GP). A year ago, the Belgian barely lost out to Lando Norris at the conclusion of a fantastic duel. Still looking for his first win this season, the Belgian driver will have that much more motivation to make up ground on the leading trio.
The outsiders ready to restart
Not on the podium in Germany, Gabriel Aubry (Tech 1 Racing) can also count on his experience to regain the momentum that took him to two victories at the Hungaroring. The Frenchman also wants to put some distance between himself and Daniel Ticktum (Arden Motorsport). More and more of a front-runner, the Red Bull Junior Team driver would like nothing more than to star on the Austrian company’s home circuit.
Winner among the rookies for the first time in Budapest and claiming his first podium result this past weekend at the Nürburgring, Yifei Ye (Josef Kaufmann Racing) will be aiming even higher. The Red Bull Ring will be a new circuit for the Chinese driver as it will be for Renault Sport Academy member Max Fewtrell (Tech 1 Racing) and Alex Peroni (Fortec Motorsports), still in contention in the general classification.
On borrowed time
In Austria, the first to be eliminated in the race for the title could be known! While Henrique Chaves (AVF by Adrián Vallés) and Alex Korneev (Fortec Motorsports) will have the advantage of already having competed on this track, but this does not apply to several other contenders, whose time is running out.
Empty-handed in Germany, Red Bull Junior Team drivers Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport) and Neil Verhagen (MP Motorsport) will hope to get back in the hunt in Spielberg. It will be the same for their team mate Jarno Opmeer (MP Motorsport), who has the backing of the Renault Sport Academy.
The three members of the Dutch team will not be the only drivers who will want to stand out: Alexander Vartanyan (JD Motorsport), Thomas Maxwell (Tech 1 Racing), Raúl Guzmán (R-ace GP), Presley Martono (Mark Burdett Motorsport) and Najiy Ayyad bin Abd Razak (Fortec Motorsports) will aim for a return to the top ten. For Australians Luis Leeds (Josef Kaufmann Racing), Zane Goddard (Arden Motorsport), and Thomas Randle (AVF by Adrián Vallés), the goal will be to continue to progress after scoring points at the Nürburgring.
Axel Matus (AVF by Adrián Vallés), Thomas Neubauer (Tech 1 Racing), Ghislain Cordeel (Arden Motorsport), Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (JD Motorsport), Julia Pankiewicz (Mark Burdett Motorsport), Sun Yue Yang (JD Motorsport) and Frank Bird (Fortec Motorsports) continue their learning process and will all try to score their first points of the season before the well-earned summer break!
Timetable
Friday July 21 2017
9:00–9:50 Collective test 1
13:00–13:50 Collective test 2
17:10–17:25 Qualifying 1 (Group A)
17:30–17:45 Qualifying 1 (Group B)
Saturday July 22 2017
11:10–11:25 Qualifying 2 (Group B)
11:30–11:45 Qualifying 2 (Group A)
15:00–15:27 Race 1
Sunday July 23 2017
11:30–11:57 Race 2