17 April 2016
Lando Norris doubles up at Motorland Aragón
Already a winner on Saturday at Motorland Aragón, Lando Norris (Josef Kaufmann Racing) did it again on Sunday. The British rookie claimed his maiden pole position in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 then went on to control the race against his closest rivals in the general classification, Max Defourny (R-ace GP) and Harrison Scott (AVF by Adrián Vallés). Lando Norris leaves Spain atop the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 standings before the next meeting : a one race meeting as the curtain raiser for the F1 Monaco Grand Prix.
Lando Norris claims first pole
While Max Defourny was quickest in his group with a time of 1:55.488, the leader in the general classification, Lando Norris went quicker in the other group with a lap clocked in 1:55.294.
With his first pole position, the British rookie set off ahead of Max Defourny, Harrison Scott, Dorian Boccolacci (Tech 1 Racing) and wild-card entry Nikita Troitskiy (Fortec Motorsports).
Another victory for the rookie
When the lights went out, the top five held position. Behind them, Julien Falchero (R-ace GP) and Bruno Baptista (Fortec Motorsports) battled for sixth place, while Henrique Chaves (AVF by Adrián Vallés) went wide in a corner.
On lap six, Max Defourny tried unsuccessfully to overtake Lando Norris. The Belgian driver then saw Harrison Scott and Dorian Boccolacci fill his mirrors. The top four ran in formation, all trying to force his adversary into a mistake.
Lando Norris kept his rivals at bay to win the 14-lap race ahead of Max Defourny and Harrison Scott. Dorian Boccolacci finished just off the podium in fourth place and was followed by wild card Nikita Troitskiy. Bruno Baptista won his skirmish with Julien Falchero for sixth place. Alexey Korneev (JD Motorsport), Robert Shwartzman (Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Vasily Romanov (Fortec Motorsports) completed the top ten.
The battle for the final point on offer was a three-driver fight with Gabriel Aubry (Tech 1 Racing) getting the nod against Ferdinand Habsburg (Fortec Motorsports) and Jehan Daruvala (Josef Kaufmann Racing), who after moving into the top ten, lost six places on lap four.
Quotes
Lando Norris: “It has been a good weekend; because only in race 1 could I have done better. Things were perhaps a little easier starting from pole. I managed to control the race, even though Max was quite fast at half-distance. I had to defend in a few corners before I was able to pull away. There is still a long way to go in the season and we need to remain focused on our job beginning with the next race in Monaco.”
Max Defourny: “It was a pretty good race. I was able to score a lot of points for the championship. My start was not exceptional, but I was able to catch up to Lando. I put in two attacks, but there wasn’t an opening. We are well placed; we will come back and give it all we have at the next round.”
Harrison Scott: “I got a great start and was alongside Max going in the first corner, but he was on the inside and I couldn’t force anything. He then attacked to catch up to Lando and once that was done, I could close ground, but this also allowed Dorian to pressure me over two laps. This morning, qualifying went better than yesterday and I hope we can maintain the momentum.”
Provisional General Classification*
1. Lando Norris (Josef Kaufmann Racing) 68
2. Max Defourny (R-ace GP) 55
3. Harrison Scott (AVF by Adrián Vallés) 42
4. Dorian Boccolacci (Tech 1 Racing) 31
5. Jehan Daruvala (Josef Kaufmann Racing) 25
…
*Subject to confirmation of the results following the technical and sporting verifications
