28 September 2014
Nyck de Vries clinches the title with a victory
Author of a perfect weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard, Nyck de Vries (Koiranen GP) took the pole and victory this Sunday. At the end of an eventful race, the member of the McLaren Young Driver Development Programme won ahead of Aurélien Panis (ART Junior Team) and Egor Orudzhev (Tech 1 Racing). The triumph assures the 2014 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 title for the Koiranen GP driver, just a few weeks after claiming the Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS crown.
Following his Saturday pole and victory, Nyck de Vries scored his sixth pole position this morning with a best time of 2:03.040. The Dutchman lined up ahead of Aurélien Panis, Egor Orudzhev, Ignazio D’Agosto (Koiranen GP) and Kevin Jörg (Josef Kaufmann Racing) on the starting grid. The other title contenders, Dennis Olsen (Prema Powerteam) and Andrea Pizzitola (Manor MP Motorsport), started 15th and 13th positions.
When the lights went out, Nyck de Vries got a perfect launch. He held on to the lead ahead of Aurélien Panis, Egor Orudzhev and Ignazio D’Agosto. Alexander Albon (KTR) overtook Kevin Jörg for fifth place while Martin Rump (Fortec Motorsports), Ryan Tveter (Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Jules Gounon (AVF) retired on the opening lap. On lap two, Dennis Olsen (Prema Powerteam) saw his slim hopes for the title vanish in an accident before the intervention of the safety car, then a red flag stoppage to clear away the car of Ryan Tveter.
After a lap behind the safety car, Nyck de Vries held on to first place while Egor Orudzhev pressured Aurélien Panis without success. Further back in the field, Steijn Schothorst (Manor MP Motorsport) passed several cars to move up to fifth place after starting from row six.
At the end of lap 11, Nyck de Vries took his fourth victory, as well as the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 title. Aurélien Panis and Egor Orudzhev completed the podium. Ignazio D’Agosto finished fourth, followed by Steijn Schothorst and the Josef Kaufmann Racing entries of Kevin Jörg and Gustav Malja. Andrea Pizzitola. Anthoine Hubert (Tech 1 Racing) and Matt Parry (Fortec Motorsports) were the final point scorers.
Quotes
Nyck de Vries: “From the outside, it looks like a perfect weekend but I wasn’t completely satisfied with my performance this morning. I have been in the Eurocup for three years; it was about time to get this title! When I saw Olsen’s car stopped, it didn’t change a thing, because the goal was really to win the race. The rest is a bonus! The logical next step is to move up to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series next year, let’s hope we can make it!”
Aurélien Panis: “It was a hard race because Egor was really fast. I was able to keep him behind me, and it is good to get a podium after what was a very difficult weekend in Hungary. To bounce back in this manner is excellent for the team and I hope I can get another win a Jerez”
Egor Orudzhev: ” I really gave it all I had to overtake Aurélien: inside, outside, out braking, under braking…But it wasn’t enough! He did a very good job defending the position and I also got Ignazio D’Agosto right behind us. We hoped for second place, but this kind of battle is a good experience.”
Provisional General Classification * : 1. N. de Vries – 204 points, 2. D. Olsen – 116, 3. A. Pizzitola – 108, 4. A. Albon – 93, 5. E. Orudzhev – 82, …
*Subject to confirmation of the results following the technical and sporting verifications
