Boccolacci and Tech 1 Racing shine at their debut
Frenchman Dorian Boccolacci and his Team Tech 1 Racing, both newcomers to the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, won the thrilling opening race at Monza in Italy. Russian Nikita Troitskiy (Fortec Motorsports) and Briton Lando Norris (Josef Kaufmann Racing) finished second and third. The top three thus made up an all-newcomer podium. Pole setter Jehan Daruvala (Josef Kaufmann Racing) came home fourth. Light rainfall towards the end kept the slipstream battles unpredictable.
Jehan Daruvala managed to stay ahead on lap one. From third place on the grid, Dorian Boccolacci passed Lando Norris on the opening lap and soon overtook Daruvala as well. With numerous position changes behind, the first seven cars made up the leading group for a while.
With ongoing battles behind him, European Formula 3 graduate Boccolacci pulled away. Nikita Troitskiy had started from fourth and passed the two Josef Kaufmann Racing cars to move up into second place.
With positions one and two sorted, Daruvala and Norris fought for the last podium spot. Increasing rainfall made attacking tricky. MSA Formula champion Norris got past his teammate to secure a trophy.
Dorian Boccolacci’s maiden win is also an important success for Eurocup-experienced Tech 1 Racing from Toulouse, which is new to the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. SMP Formula 4 NEZ graduate Nikita Troitskiy overcame his lack of experience in the Formula Renault 2.0 car by not only finishing second, but also by winning the Rookie class for the under-18 drivers. Lando Norris was second-best Rookie.
Behind his two teammates, Robert Shwartzman (Josef Kaufmann Racing) finished in fifth ahead of two further Tech 1 Racing drivers, Sacha Fenestraz and Gabriel Aubry. Vasily Romanov (Fortec Motorsports), Alex Gill (Mark Burdett Motorsport), and Hugo de Sadeleer (Tech 1 Racing) completed the top ten positions.
Tomorrow’s pole sitter Max Defourny (R-ace GP) had to pit halfway through the race with gearbox issues. The 2015 Rookie champion reached the finish line in 19th position.
Julien Falchero (R-ace GP), Alexej Korneev (JD Motorsport), and Nerses Isaakyan (AVF by Adrián Vallés) piled up in the first chicane and had to retire.
Laurents Hörr (Dutt Motorsport) made it into twelfth place from the final grid position. The German newcomer had managed very little mileage due to technical issues on Friday, but was able to gain some ground under the tricky conditions.
Both Max Defourny and Jehan Daruvala will share the front row for the second race. Will Palmer (R-ace GP) will start from third. In race one, Palmer finished in 13th place. His brother Jolyon, Renault Formula 1 driver, presented the trophies at the podium ceremony. Today’s winner Boccolacci will start from sixth spot tomorrow.
Dorian Boccolacci (Tech 1 Racing): “I could pass both of the Kaufmann cars. Later it was hard to make no mistakes in the rain. If you turn too quickly under braking, the tyres lock. This happened to me. With one flat spot already, the tyres locked up several times again. But the car was great. It’s also a nice result for Tech 1 Racing at their debut in this championship.”
Nikita Troitskiy (Fortec Motorsports): “The race was successful, but really hard because it was rainy. Luckily, I could keep the gap towards Lando. I needed to adapt to the brakes. They are quite different to the ones I was used to in Formula 4.”
Lando Norris (Josef Kaufmann Racing): “The rain made it tricky. There were only two corners that were completely wet. But it’s hard to know how wet it is coming into the corner and to judge the braking point. Starting from second, it’s not perfect ending up third. Still we got good points for the championship.”
Grid for Race 1
1st, No. 1, Jehan Daruvala, IND, Josef Kaufmann Racing
2nd, No. 2, Lando Norris*, GBR, Josef Kaufmann Racing
3rd, No. 9, Dorian Boccolacci, FRA, Tech 1 Racing
4th, No. 7, Nikita Troitckii*, RUS, Fortec Motorsports
5th, No. 33, Max Defourny, BEL, R-ace GP
6th, No. 11, Sacha Fenestraz*, FRA, Tech 1 Racing
7th, No. 3, Robert Shwartzman*, RUS, Josef Kaufmann Racing
8th, No. 12, Gabriel Aubry*, FRA, Tech 1 Racing
9th, No. 6, Bruno Baptista, BRA, Fortec Motorsports
10th, No. 27, Alex Gill, GBR, Mark Burdett Motorsport
11th, No. 16, Julien Falchero, FRA, R-ace GP
12th, No. 14, Will Palmer, GBR, R-ace GP
13th, No. 18, James Allen, AUS, J .D. Motorsport
14th, No. 5, Vasily Romanov, RUS, Fortec Motorsports
15th, No. 17, Alexey Korneev*, RUS, J .D. Motorsport
16th, No. 10, Hugo De Sadeleer, SUI, Tech 1 Racing
17th, No. 21, Henrique Chaves, POR, AVF by Adrian Valles
18th, No. 28, Finlay Hutchison*, GBR, Mark Burdett Motorsport
19th, No. 96, Bartłomiej Mirecki, CZE, BM Racing Team
20th, No. 24, Nerses Isaakyan*, RUS, AVF by Adrian Valles
21st, No. 32, Kasper Larsen, DEN, KEO Racing
22nd, No. 42, Julia Pankiewicz, POL, AVF by Adrian Valles
23rd, No. 77, Laurents Hörr, GER, Dutt Motorsport
Race 1, Results
1st, No. 9, Dorian Boccolacci, FRA, Tech 1 Racing, 14 laps: 26:18.554
2nd, No. 7, Nikita Troitckii*, RUS, Fortec Motorsports, Gap: 3.104
3rd, No. 2, Lando Norris*, GBR, Josef Kaufmann Racing, Gap: 3.947
4th, No. 1, Jehan Daruvala, IND, Josef Kaufmann Racing, Gap: 5.775
5th, No. 3, Robert Shwartzman*, RUS, Josef Kaufmann Racing, Gap: 5.849
6th, No. 12, Gabriel Aubry*, FRA, Tech 1 Racing, Gap: 6.797
7th, No. 11, Sacha Fenestraz*, FRA, Tech 1 Racing, Gap: 6.880
8th, No. 5, Vasily Romanov, RUS, Fortec Motorsports, Gap: 7.540
9th, No. 27, Alex Gill, GBR, Mark Burdett Motorsport, Gap: 9.827
10th, No. 10, Hugo De Sadeleer, SUI, Tech 1 Racing, Gap: 24.482
11th, No. 21, Henrique Chaves, POR, AVF by Adrian Valles, Gap: 24.841
12th, No. 77, Laurents Hörr, GER, Dutt Motorsport, Gap: 29.993
13th, No. 14, Will Palmer, GBR, R-ace GP, Gap: 31.175
14th, No. 18, James Allen, AUS, J .D. Motorsport, Gap: 31.939
15th, No. 96, Bartłomiej Mirecki, CZE, BM Racing Team, Gap: 32.455
16th, No. 28, Finlay Hutchison*, GBR, Mark Burdett Motorsport, Gap: 34.733
17th, No. 32, Kasper Larsen, DEN, KEO Racing, Gap: 27.876
18th, No. 42, Julia Pankiewicz, POL, AVF by Adrian Valles, Gap: 1:08.264
19th, No. 33, Max Defourny, BEL, R-ace GP, Gap: 2 laps
Not Classified
No. 17, Alexey Korneev*, RUS, J .D. Motorsport, Lap 6
No. 16, Julien Falchero, FRA, R-ace GP, Lap 5
No. 24, Nerses Isaakyan*, RUS, AVF by Adrian Valles, Lap 5
No. 6, Bruno Baptista, BRA, Fortec Motorsports, Lap 5
Fastest Lap
No. 3, Robert Shwartzman*, RUS, Josef Kaufmann Racing, Lap 4, 1:50.448, 188.8 kph
- Rookie
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