Pål Varhaug won a thrilling Race 2 in Budapest in front of 52.000 people
Euronova Racing penalized in Budapest
The Norwegian driver of Virtuosi UK delighted the Hungarian crowd crossing the line with a gap of just 0.8 on Adrian Quaife-Hobbs after an hard-fought race that saw the two run nose-to-tail right from the very first lap.
At the start it was Giuseppe Cipriani who took the lead, making the most of a bad start from both reverse poleman Antonio Spavone and Chris Van der Drift: the Italian had too much wheelspin, while the Dutchman of Manor MP was quick off the line but was then hampered by his engine entering in “safety mode” due tue high temperatures. With Van der Drift dropping down the order (the same happened to Regalia), Cipriani took the lead ahead of Giancarlo Serenelli, Quaife-Hobbs, Varhaug, Spavone, Victor Guerin and Michele La Rosa.
Cipriani managed to stretch his gap on the followers to 2” by lap 2, but a crash by Michele La Rosa brought the Safety-Car in at the end of the lap, erasing his lead. When the race was restarted two laps later, Varhaug and Quaife-Hobbs immediately overtook Serenelli and then sticked themselves to Cipriani’s gearbox: the Italian driver of Campos Racing managed to keep his rivals at bay for another three laps but at the end of lap 7 Varhaug passed him at Turn 11 with a good outside move, while Quaife-Hobbs did the same getting a better exit at the last corner and then passing him on the inside of Turn 1.
From then on, the fight for the win was really hot and the gap between the pair never reached the 1” mark: Adrian pitted earlier than Varhaug on lap 13, hoping to pass him with a very quick out-lap, but Pål’s pace was quick and when he did his tyre change the Vitruosi UK crew did a very good job. He managed to exit the pits in front of the SuperNova car and then despite being on cold tires he fended off some attacks from Quaife-Hobbs. The last thrilling moment came on the penultimate lap when Varhaug made a mistake going wide at the last corner: Quaife-Hobbs immediately tried to make the most of it but Pål used the Overboost he had left to maintain the lead until the checkered flag.
Third place went to Sergey Sirotkin after a masterly drive that brought him to a podium finish from P13 on the starting grid. The Russian driver of Euronova had a good start but then got stuck into traffic and ended the first lap in 11th place. On the following lap he passed both Van der Drift and de Jong on track, and then relied on a really good pace to make up ground as his competitors where doing their pit stops, boasting another impressive performance. Sten Pentus finished in fourth place after a great recovery from P9, ahead of Chris Van der Drift who managed to fight back after his unlucky start. Early leader Cipriani finished 6th in his best Auto GP weekend ever, ahead of Sergio Campana and Antonio Spavone, again in the points. Serenelli and Regalia closed the top ten, with Max Snegirev finishing just out of it in P11.
Budapest, Race 2: the drivers quotes
Pål Varhaug clinched the second win of his Auto GP season in Budapest after a race-long fight with Adrian Quaife-Hobbs. Sergey Sirotkin took third place after a stunning recovery from P13 on the grid. Here is what they said after the race.
Pål Varhaug
Your win came thanks to a both a great drive and a very good strategy, you needed both to beat your rival…
“That’s true, we had seen from yesterday that Adrian had an edge in terms of raw pace, and so we knew that if we pitted early he would have tried to pass us with some laps in clean air. That’s why we did our pit-stop as late as possible, keeping him behind all the time. It worked, also because I’m happy to say that our pace was also very good, the car worked really well today. The team did a great job at the pit-stop, getting me a little extra gap that was useful when I came out of the pits”.
The first laps weren’t easy, trying to pass Cipriani but defending from Quaife-Hobbs at the same time, tell us how it was from your seat.
“Yes, it took some time to pass Cipriani, mainly because I was more worried about keeping Adrian at bay. He was very close, I could see him in my mirrors, and even if my aim was obviously to pass Giuseppe, I didn’t want any stupid mistake that would have let Quaife-Hobbs through”.
Your race had many big moments, but two come to mind more than the others: your great drive in fending off Adrian’s attacks on cold tyres and the mistake on the penultimate lap that gave him a chance to attack you…
“When I did exit the pit-lane after my pit-stop it was really difficult. I was ahead, but Adrian already had one lap into his tyres and mine were completely cold, so in the first corners he was all over me. Anyway I made the most of all the defensive lines I knew and managed to fend him off until I got some heat into my rubber. The mistake on the penultimate lap was really a big moment, I went too quick into the corner and lost the car a bit, I was really scared that Quaife-Hobbs would have passed me. Anyway I still had some Overboost available while he had none left, so I managed to stay in front. It was a fun race, winning it makes me really happy”.
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
You don’t seem too happy after this race but you should, it was a great weekend for your championship…
“I’m happy, second place after winning yesterday isn’t bad at all, but at the same time I’m a bit disappointed because I came just 0”8 tenths shy of the perfect weekend. I had clinched the fastest laptime in each session, I have the fastest lap in both races, I won Race 1, so I was just missing this Race 2 win to achieve something that had never been done before in the championship history. It would have been great for me and the team, but in the end it’s fine anyway”.
We had the feeling that at some point you and SuperNova decided to change strategy in order to pit earlier than Varhaug, is that true?
“Usually when you start from P8 like I did today you opt for an early pit-stop in order to have some quick laps in clean air and gain some ground and places. Today, instead, we decided to do our race on Pål and so I had to overtake my rivals on track. Luckily I got a good start and was immediately behind him, but passing him was a different matter. Hungaroring doesn’t give you a lot of chances so when we realized that Varhaug was going for a late pit-stop we decided to try something different. We went very close to making it, but Pål held on well. It was good race, hard-fought but fair, I enjoyed it”.
You have a 43 points lead with three events to go, did you start thinking about the championship?
“Not in a way that can affect my racing. As you’ve seen in Marrakech and today, I will always go for a win if there is a chance, I want to win races because I’m also sure that it’s the best way to secure the title. I’m not gonna take stupid risks, that’s obvious, but I’ll never back off if I see that a win is possible”.
Sergey Sirotkin
In a Series where the Race 2 grid is decided by the result of Race 1 usually a retirement on Saturday means a ruined weekend. This wasn’t your case, as you recovered from P13 on the grid…
“My start was good, at the first corner I was already around sixth or seventh place but thent at Turn 1 I got stuck behind a slower car and I dropped down the order again. So I had to fight back during the first laps, making some good overtakings and pushing as hard as I could to make up some ground. I managed because on lap 10, when I exited the pit-stops I was really close to the guys in front who still had to change tyres, so virtually I was already P3”.
Did you think that a podium finish was possible before the race?
“Yes, I knew that we were really quick and that if everything was going right a podium finish could have been possible. If you look at the result of the race I ended just 2”5 behind the first two, so I think that withou getting stuck into traffic at Turn 1 I could have won the Race”.
As you already did in Valencia, here in Budapest you raced both in Auto GP and F3. Which one of the two weekends was tougher?
“This one, for sure. Valencia was tough but from a physical standpoint Hungaroring is even harder, and the car feels much heavier here, so this weekend was definitely more tiring”.
Euronova Racing penalized in Budapest
The Euronova #14 entry (driver Antonio Spavone) was excluded from the standings of both Race 1 and Race 2 of the Budapest Auto GP weekend after the Stewards of the Meeting found the team responsible of not using both the tyre compunds available for the weekend, so infringing Article 80 of the Auto GP Sporting Regulation.
Euronova Racing decided to appeal against the decision and so the classifications of both races will be “sub judice” until the Court of Appeal of the Hungarian ASN will decide on the matter.
source: Auto GP, autogp.org
SIROTKIN FIGHTS TO PODIUM FINISH, SPAVONE IN THE POINTS
Sergey Sirotkin climbed on to the podium for the second time today after finishing the final Auto GP race of the weekend in 3rd place. Antonio Spavone finished in 8th place, the 4th of the Under 21 drivers to cross the finish line.
Sirotkin started the race back in 13th place after retiring from yesterday’s race with gearbox problems. By the time the safety car came out at the end of lap 2 the Lukoil driver was already up to 9th place. As driver’s ahead of him pitted Sirotkin pushed as hard as he good and was running in 4th place when he made his stop at the end of lap 9. A slick tyre change from the Euronova crew got him out with clear track ahead of him and once the final stops were made he was in 3rd place. Driving to the limit Sirotkin was visibly catching the vicious battle for the lead between Varhaug and Quaife-Hobbs but the remaining 4 laps were not enough for the Russian to get close enough to challenge the dueling pair and he crossed the line 2.7 seconds behind the winner. Nevertheless 3rd place from 13th on the grid was a fine drive and further evidence of the Russian’s talent and fighting spirit.
Antonio Spavone, started from pole but a slow getaway as the lights changed saw him fall back to 5th at the first corner. The teenager from Naples made an early stop at the end of lap 4 and came out in thirteenth place. A lap later Pentus and Snegeriv stopped and whilst the Russian rejoined behind Spavone, Pentus exited the pit lane ahead of the Euronova driver. Two laps later Serenelli pitted and came out ahead of Pentus and Spavone. Pentus slipped past the Venezuelan, taking advantage of his cold tyres but Spavone couldn’t follow him through. Constrained by the difficult nature of the Hungaroring circuit to stay behind Serenelli for four laps before he found a way past Spavone’s race was compromised and he lost ground to the leaders. Once the late pit stops had been made and the chequered flag fell Spavone was in 8th position, 0.6 seconds behind Marrakech winner Campana.
The Auto GP teams now move to Portimao for the 5th round of the Championship which takes place at the beginning of June.
source: euronova-racing.com
VAN DER DRIFT CLOSES ON AUTO GP TOP THREE IN HUNGARY
Manor MP Motorsport’s Chris van der Drift ended the fourth event of the Auto GP season at the Hungaroring on Sunday, 6th May, within just five points of the championship top three despite a tough and problematic weekend for the Dutch squad which remains second in the team standings.
Arriving in Hungary on a high after taking his and Manor MP’s maiden category victory last time out in Morocco, the 26-year-old endured a nightmare in qualifying when a wheel problem prevented him from posting a competitive lap time and resulted in a back-of-the-grid start for the opening race.
Regardless of the difficulties, van der Drift took seventh place in round seven on Saturday, 5th May, while team-mate Daniël De Jong was the one to this time encounter problems – a certain podium finish ripped from his grasp after a problem firing up the engine following his tyre change pit-stop.
Van der Drift mounted a fantastic drive in Sunday’s eighth round to battle back superbly from an issue at the start when the safety-mode of the engine kicked-in, dropping him from second to 10th place, to take an excellent top five result. De Jong, meanwhile, had to settle for 12th position.
“It’s been a really tough weekend, we had a lot of problems to overcome but Chris and Daniël both did a great job and they were really unlucky not to have a podium each”, said team principal Sander Dorsman, “Daniël was in great shape in race one, the strategy worked well, and he was on for third place at least when the engine stalled when he was in the pit-box. It was a big disappointment.
“Chris had a lot of work to do in the races after the problems with his wheel in qualifying but he still took away a lot of points in the races and he’s closed-up to the championship top three. When we look at the difficult situations we had this weekend, the end result hasn’t been all that bad.”
De Jong robbed of Hungaroring podium
Van der Drift started his weekend very strongly during free practice on Friday, 4th May, by setting the third fastest time in the opening session but in qualifying everything turned sour when a damaged locking pin on the right-rear wheel prevented him from posting a genuine lap time.
De Jong was consistently strong in both free practice runs, sixth and seventh fastest respectively, and in qualifying the 19-year-old continued his impressive momentum to take fourth on the grid for round seven with a time of 1m33.570 seconds, 0.6 seconds clear of his closest competitor.
Under bright, sunny skies the first of the weekend’s races on Saturday morning began well for van der Drift as he made a good getaway while De Jong moved into fifth on the run to the first corner despite being dramatically squeezed towards the pit wall and forced to run through a lot of dust.
Staying close to the top four, the teenager then profited from an incident ahead at the last corner when Sergey Sirotkin, under pressure for the lead from Pal Varhaug, lost the rear of his car and the two made contact – Varhaug forced wide off the track.
Although Sirotkin recovered, the collision allowed De Jong up into fourth place and with a fantastic run into lap two he took third from Victor Guerin at turn one. Pressuring Sirotkin, De Jong remained in third and was one of the last drivers to take his mandatory pit-stop on the 16th tour.
Then, drama – as De Jong went to pull away from the pit-box his car stalled and refused to re-start despite all the team’s efforts. The car eventually fired into life but driver and team were robbed of a certain podium, instead taking a disappointing 11th place.
Van der Drift, having worked his way into 11th on the first lap alone from the back of the grid, ran as high as sixth prior to his pit-stop on lap nine. Rejoining in eighth place just ahead of a tense, four-car battle, the Manor MP driver’s cold tyres couldn’t yet provide the grid he needed to keep Giuseppe Cipriani behind and despite a valiant effort he had to give best at turn two.
With De Jong’s problems though, and a retirement for Sirotkin, van der Drift eventually finished in seventh which also secured him a front row start for round eight. Misfortune again struck van der Drift though at the beginning of Sunday’s race when a good initial getaway turned into a slump back into the pack when the engine slipped into safety-mode, cutting the power.
Forced to mount a major recovery drive from 10th place on the opening lap, behind team-mate De Jong who had made a good start of his own, the Kiwi-Dutch national was one of the last to make a pit-stop four laps from the end and the strategy paid off with a very well deserved fifth place finish.
Having climbed into ninth prior to a brief one lap Safety Car period on the third tour, De Jong took eighth at the re-start with a good move at turn one but an early pit-stop at the end of that lap didn’t quite work out and he had to settle for 12th at the chequered flag.
Auto GP now has a four week break from competition with the ninth and 10th rounds of the season set to take place over the weekend 2nd/3rd June at Portimao in Portugal.
2012 Auto GP Team Standings (after Rd8):
2nd Manor MP Motorsport, 126pts
2012 Auto GP Driver Standings (after Rd8):
4th Chris van der Drift, 83pts; =6th Daniël De Jong & Sergio Campana, 43pts
2012 Auto GP Under-21 Driver Standings (after Rd8):
6th Daniël De Jong, 55pts
source: www.marc-orme.co.uk