1 June 2014
A one-two finish for Prema Powerteam at Spa-Francorchamps
On the Spa-Francochamps circuit, Bruno Bonifacio (Prema Powerteam) raced to his maiden triumph in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. The Brazilian got the better of pole winner Nyck de Vries (Koiranen GP) on lap three and never looked back. Thanks to the second place finish of Dennis Olsen, the Prema Powerteam team scored a one-two finish. Third place Nyck de Vries (Koiranen GP) is now on equal points in the championship with Bruno Bonifacio.
Following his best time on Saturday, Nyck de Vries did it once again on Sunday morning to take his third pole position of the season. The Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 point’s leader broke the lap record with a time of 2:16.875. The Dutchman was joined on row one by Aurélien Panis (ART Junior Team), while Dennis Olsen and Bruno Bonifacio made it an all Prema Powerteam row two.
When the lights went out, Nyck de Vries held on to the lead. Despite the simultaneous attacks from Dennis Olsen, Bruno Bonifacio and Aurélien Panis, the Dutchman defended his position ahead of the Brazilian and Norwegian. The Frenchman dropped down the order at Les Combes, allowing his team-mates Callan O’Keeffe and Levin Amweg to move into the top five.
On lap three, Bruno Bonifacio made his way past Nyck de Vries to take the lead, but his rivals managed to stay within striking distance. The Prema driver took advantage of the battle between Nyck de Vries and Dennis Olsen to pull away from an eventual attack. His team-mate passed the championship leader on lap eight.
The top five positions went unchanged. After three third places in as many races, Bruno Bonifacio took his first win in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 ahead of Dennis Olsen and Nyck de Vries. Callan O’Keeffe and Levin Amweg rounded out the top five. At the conclusion of an action packed race, Anthoine Hubert (Tech 1 Racing) finished sixth ahead of Matevos Isaakyan (JD Motorsport), Hans Villemi (Prema Powerteam), Egor Orudzhev (Tech 1 Racing) and Andrea Pizzitola (Manor MP Motorsport).
Quotes
Bruno Bonifacio: ”It’s a very special moment to take my first win in this category, even more so because Spa is my favourite circuit. I worked a lot for this victory and it tops of this weekend where the team, my team-mates and I were very strong. We have been very consistent until now. Thank you to everyone who supports me.”
Dennis Olsen: ”The team is very strong this year, which is promising. I am really happy that my friend Bruno won because we make each other better. I am just a little disappointed to have done better because the pace was there, but there were a few unfair moves during the race.”
Nyck de Vries: ”All throughout the weekend, we were strong in qualifying. Unfortunately, we were not able to turn into a win, but Bruno deserved his win, as did Denis in taking second place.”
Provisional General Classification * : 1. N. de Vries – 70 points, 2. B. Bonifacio – 70, 3. D. Olsen – 47, 4. E. Orudzhev – 26, 5. L. Amweg – 30, …
*Subject to confirmation of the results following the technical and sporting verifications.
