13 September 2014
Andrea Pizzitola scores pole in Budapest
Andrea Pizzitola (Manor MP Motorsport) made light of damp conditions at the Hungaroring to score his second Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 pole of the season on Saturday morning. Monaco driver Charles Leclerc (Fortec Motorsports) will join him on the front row, with Hans Villemi (Prema Powerteam), Nyck de Vries (Koiranen GP) and Gustav Malja (Josef Kaufmann Racing) lining up right behind them.
Though the track was on the damp side as qualifying began, the drivers in Group A opted for slicks. Koiranen GP duo Nyck de Vries and Nick Cassidy traded fastest laps only for Charles Leclerc to outpace everyone with his final effort, leaving the Dutchman and the New Zealander trailing behind him.
Ignazio D’Agosto (Koiranen GP) and Dennis Olsen (Prema Powerteam) made the early running in Group B before Gustav Malja went fastest. The times continued to tumble as the end of the session neared, with Andrea Pizzitola snatching pole with a lap of 1:45.253, ahead of Hans Villemi and Gustav Malja.
Saturday’s Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 race gets under way at 12:25.
Andrea Pizzitola: “That was not an easy session on the heart. I went back to the pits because the clutch was slipping and the team told me there was nothing they could do. I went back out for a couple of laps and I was really fired up, which did the trick. I’m delighted with this pole. Let’s see what conditions we’ll have for the race.”
