Monza Hosts First Showdown of the Season

The new Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup season starts at Monza this upcoming weekend. The traditional Italian high-speed venue hosts the two opening races. For the eleventh year of the junior single seater championship, ten teams and 26 drivers join the field. Two thirds of the drivers this time are newcomers.

For the first time, the complete 2016 grid hits the track together on the same occasion. The results at Monza should allow a clearer indication of the balance of power than the test sessions did.

Last weekend, Lando Norris (Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Max Defourny (R-ace GP) shared the Eurocup victories at Motorland Aragon. At Monza, they face two NEC podium scorers from 2015, Jehan Daruvala (Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Alex Gill (Mark Burdett Motorsport).

Eight drivers compete in the Rookie class for under 18-year-olds. After its introduction in 2015, this additional championship is held for the second year. All Rookie cars carry red starting numbers.

In terms of quantity, Russia is the leading force of the field. With Robert Shwartzman (Josef Kaufmann Racing), Vasily Romanov, Nikita Troitskiy (both Fortec Motorsports), Alexej Korneev (JD Motorsport), and Nerses Isaakyan (AVF), five of the 26 drivers are Russian. Great Britain and France follow with four drivers each. In total, 14 nations make up the grid.

As in the past, there are two races of 25 minutes each. The opening race is held on Saturday at midday. The second race starts on Sunday morning. Friday at Monza is packed with two 45-minute Free Practice sessions and Qualifying as well. Qualifying consists of two separate sessions of 20 minutes each. Session one determines the grid for race one, whereas the second part decides the starting order for race two.

Current weather forecasts predict dry practice sessions, but a risk of rain for the two race days, especially Saturday.

Monza is part of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup calendar for the fourth time. After hosting the 2011 season finale, Monza has staged the opening round each year since 2014. On the 5.793 kilometres long track in Lombardy, drivers reach almost 250 kph four times during each lap. Three quarters of the lap is driven at full throttle.