2 June 2013
Ghiotto opens his account
Fresh from winning the Grand Prix de Pau, Luca Ghiotto (Prema Powerteam) secured his maiden Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 triumph of the season at Spa on Sunday, the Italian leading Pierre Gasly (Tech 1 Racing) and Bruno Bonifacio (Prema Powerteam) home at the end of a thrilling race.
Ferrari Driver Academy member Antonio Fuoco (Prema Powerteam) took pole in the morning’s qualifying session, with team-mate and compatriot Luca Ghiotto by his side on the front row and Pierre Gasly, Bruno Bonifacio and Oscar Tunjo (Josef Kaufmann Racing) lining up behind the Italians.
Despite making a perfect getaway, Antonio Fuoco relinquished P1 to Luca Ghiotto at the end of the long straight leading into Les Combes, while Oscar Tunjo also got past Pierre Gasly on lap one. The race was then interrupted following excursions for Gregor Ramsay (Euronova) and Stefan Wackerbauer (Interwetten.com Racing) at Raidillon.
Luca Ghiotto retained the lead from Antonio Fuoco on the restart, while Pierre Gasly snatched P3 back from Oscar Tunjo, who was then passed by Bruno Bonifacio. Then on lap five Pierre Gasly ducked past Antonio Fuoco and into second. There was plenty of jousting back in the pack too, though the safety car was out after Egor Orudzhev (Tech 1 Racing) and Ignazio D’Agosto (KTR) both went off.
Pierre Gasly piled the pressure on Luca Ghiotto in the latter stages, though the Italian held firm to take victory. Bruno Bonifacio was the third man on the podium, ahead of Antonio Fuoco and Jake Dennis (Fortec Motorsport), with Oscar Tunjo, Esteban Ocon (ART Junior Team), Nyck De Vries (Koiranen GP), Mikko Pakari (Fortec Motorsports) and William Vermont (ARTA Engineering) grabbing the remaining points on offer.
What they said
Luca Ghiotto: “I made a bad start but there’s always a lot of slipstreaming at Spa-Francorchamps. There were plenty of incidents out there, and I had to be strong to hold on to the lead after the last restart because Pierre was putting the pressure on.”
Pierre Gasly: “Another second place is good for my championship chances. With all the battles going on in the bunch and the interruptions, it was a tough start to the race. I managed to recover, though, and score some big points.”
Bruno Bonifacio: “I’m very pleased to get my first podium. Before the red flag there were a lot of overtaking opportunities and I managed to climb up the field and take third.”
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 standings (provisional): 1. P. Gasly 53 points; 2. M. Vaxiviere 51; 3. J. Dennis 42; 4. O. Rowland 41; 5. O. Tunjo 41
