Sacha Fenestraz Wins and Extends his Lead at the Red Bull Ring

Starting from pole position, Sacha Fenestraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing) didn’t flinch despite two safety car periods to win for third time this season. The Frenchman was followed to the flag by Will Palmer (R-ace GP) and Gabriel Aubry (Tech 1 Racing). Renault Sport Academy driver Max Fewtrell (Tech 1 Racing) was fourth and first among the rookies. With the win Sacha Fenestraz now has a 27-point lead from his closest rival, while there are only ten drivers still in contention for the title.

On Saturday, Sacha Fenestraz won the pole with a lap of 1:28.429 at the expense of Gabriel Aubry, who set the exact same time in the following group. The new leader in the general classification started ahead of Gabriel Aubry, Max Defourny (R-ace GP), Will Palmer, Daniel Ticktum (Arden Motorsport) and Robert Shwartzman (R-ace GP).

At the start, Sacha Fenestraz held on to the lead while Will Palmer made the most of the battle between Gabriel Aubry and Max Defourny to move into second place. Behind, Robert Shwartzman was up to fifth before overtaking Max Defourny on lap two. The Russian was imitated by Max Fewtrell and Daniel Ticktum on lap six.

While Sacha Fenestraz pulled out a comfortable lead, the safety car was called out after the incident between Axel Matus (AVF by Adrián Vallés) and Presley Martono (Mark Burdett Motorsport), which erased his advantage. The French driver pulled away again at the restart before another safety car period to clear away the car of Thomas Maxwell (Tech 1 Racing), who was in a scrap for tenth place.

The race resumed for the final three laps. Sacha Fenestraz wasn’t threatened and went on for this win of the season ahead of Will Palmer and Gabriel Aubry, who fended off team mate Max Fewtrell. Further back, Daniel Ticktum, Thomas Randle (AVF by Adrián Vallés) and Yifei Ye (Josef Kaufmann Racing) all got past Max Defourny on the last lap. After losing several positions during the first restart, Robert Shwartzman finished ninth ahead of Henrique Chaves (AVF by Adrián Vallés).

Sacha Fenestraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing): “It was not an easy race! The car was fantastic today and I want to thank the team. It is a shame the safety car periods obliged me to rebuild my lead twice, but I got good restarts. It has been an excellent weekend. My goal was to take the lead in the general classification before going on vacation, and I did it. I am already looking forward to Circuit Paul Ricard to keep this momentum going!”

Will Palmer (R-ace GP): “I had a difficult race yesterday when I got caught up in the incident between Daniel Ticktum and Robert Shwartzman at turn one. After a race out of the points, it was good to bounce back with a podium and a lot of points. It was a little chaotic on lap one between Gabriel Aubry and Max Defourny. When they both went straight off at turn three, I dove to the inside to get ahead of them at the exit. Sacha was already far ahead, but this second place is satisfying. We will come back stronger at Le Castellet, if we believe in the performance we showed there during the pre-season tests!”

Gabriel Aubry (Tech 1 Racing): “Qualifying yesterday showed that we are back in the hunt with the best time in my group, which was exactly the same as Sacha’s! Today’s race seemed long to me, because I had to do a lot of defending. The battles with the two Max’s were intense, but it was good to be able to hold on to my place on the podium. This is a good result before going on vacation.”

Max Fewtrell (Tech 1 Racing): “I am really pleased with my race. Contrary to the first qualifying session, I wasn’t able to perfectly negotiate the second sector in yesterday morning’ session and the tenth of a second I was missing made all the difference. I wasn’t expecting very much in starting eighth, nothing more than fifth, but I made some nice overtaking moves before attacking Gabriel. After three bad weekends, I really hope I can keep the momentum going for the rest of the season.”

Before heading off on holiday, Sacha Fenestraz, Robert Shwartzman, Will Palmer, Gabriel Aubry, Max Fewtrell and Yifei Ye will meet up in Budapest on July 27 and 28. They will be invited by Renault Sport Racing to spend two days in the F1 paddock during the Hungarian Grand Prix to discover what goes on behind the scenes of a Grand Prix and meet with the key personnel of the Renault Sport Formula One Team.

Grid – Race 2

1^st – No. 11, Sacha Fenestraz, FRA, Josef Kaufmann Racing, 1:28.882

2^nd – No. 4, Gabriel Aubry, FRA, Tech 1 Racing, 1:28.429

3^rd – No. 9, Max Defourny, BEL, R-ace GP, 1:28.793

4^th – No. 8, Will Palmer, GBR, R-ace GP, 1:28.506

5^th – No. 33, Daniel Ticktum*, GBR, Arden Motorsport, 1:28.988

6^th – No. 10, Robert Shwartzman*, RUS, Josef Kaufmann Racing, 1:28.564

7^th – No. 16, Thomas Randle, AUS, AVF by Adrián Vallés, 1:29.180

8^th – No. 7, Max Fewtrell*, GBR, Tech 1 Racing, 1:28.621

9^th – No. 17, Alex Peroni, AUS, Fortec Motorsports, 1:29.460

10^th – No. 1, Yifei Ye*, CHN, Josef Kaufmann Racing, 1:28.651

11^th – No. 13, Henrique Chaves, POR, AVF by Adrián Vallés, 1:29.321

12^th – No. 29, Richard Verschoor*, NLD, MP Motorsport, 1:28.707

13^th – No. 6, Thomas Neubauer*, FRA, Tech 1 Racing, 1:29.717

14^th – No. 18, Alexey Korneev, RUS, Fortec Motorsports, 1:28.938

15^th – No. 5, Thomas Maxwell*, AUS, Tech 1 Racing, 1:29.583

16^th – No. 23, Alexander Vartanyan, RUS, JD Motorsport, 1:29.033

17^th – No. 31, Neil Verhagen*, USA, MP Motorsport, 1:29.298

18^th – No. 93, Zane Goddard*, AUS, Arden Motorsport, 1:29.465

19^th – No. 2, Luis Leeds*, AUS, Josef Kaufmann Racing, 1:29.860

20^th – No. 26, Presley Martono*, IND, Mark Burdett Motorsport, 1:29.520

21^st – No. 22, Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer*, FRA, JD Motorsport, 1:29.139

22^nd – No. 12, Raul Guzman*, MEX, R-ace GP, 1:29.592

23^rd – No. 15, Axel Matus*, MEX, AVF by Adrián Vallés, 1:29.692

24^th – No. 14, Xavier Llovers*, ESP, AVF by Adrián Vallés, 1:30.436

25^th – No. 19, Frank Bird*, GBR, Fortec Motorsports, 1:29.770

26^th – No. 21, Sun Yue Yang*, CHN, JD Motorsport, 1:30.143

27^th – No. 30, Jarno Opmeer*, NLD, MP Motorsport, 1:29.763^

28^th – No. 34, Ghislain Cordeel, BEL, Arden Motorsport, 1:29.832

29^th – No. 20, Najiy Razak, MYS, Fortec Motorsports, 1:30.007

30^th – No. 25, Julia Pankiewicz, POL, Mark Burdett Motorsport, 1:30.468

 

Car No. 30 – Drop of 3 grid positions

Race 2

1^st – No. 11, Sacha Fenestraz, FRA, Josef Kaufmann Racing, 16 laps, 26:38.672

2^nd – No. 8, Will Palmer, GBR, R-ace GP, Gap: 1.214

3^rd – No. 4, Gabriel Aubry, FRA, Tech 1 Racing, Gap: 2.353

4^th – No. 7, Max Fewtrell*, GBR, Tech 1 Racing, Gap: 3.687

5^th – No. 33, Daniel Ticktum*, GBR, Arden Motorsport, Gap: 5.641

6^th – No. 16, Thomas Randle, AUS, AVF by Adrián Vallés, Gap: 5.827

7^th – No. 1, Yifei Ye*, CHN, Josef Kaufmann Racing, Gap: 6.068

8^th – No. 9, Max Defourny, BEL, R-ace GP, Gap: 6.089

9^th – No. 10, Robert Shwartzman*, RUS, Josef Kaufmann Racing, Gap: 6.528

10^th – No. 13, Henrique Chaves, POR, AVF by Adrián Vallés, Gap: 6.701

11^th – No. 6, Thomas Neubauer*, FRA, Tech 1 Racing, Gap: 8.991

12^th – No. 17, Alex Peroni, AUS, Fortec Motorsports, Gap: 10.435

13^th – No. 22, Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer*, FRA, JD Motorsport, Gap: 11.045

14^th – No. 18, Alexey Korneev, RUS, Fortec Motorsports, Gap: 11.110

15^th – No. 23, Alexander Vartanyan, RUS, JD Motorsport, Gap: 11.806

16^th – No. 93, Zane Goddard*, AUS, Arden Motorsport, Gap: 12.441

17^th – No. 21, Sun Yue Yang*, CHN, JD Motorsport, Gap: 13.163

18^th – No. 12, Raul Guzman*, MEX, R-ace GP, Gap: 13.870

19^th – No. 14, Xavier Llovers*, ESP, AVF by Adrián Vallés, Gap: 14.732

20^th – No. 25, Julia Pankiewicz, POL, Mark Burdett Motorsport, Gap: 15.373

21^st – No. 34, Ghislain Cordeel, BEL, Arden Motorsport, Gap: 15.585

22^nd – No. 20, Najiy Razak, MYS, Fortec Motorsports, Gap: 16.108

23^rd – No. 19, Frank Bird*, GBR, Fortec Motorsports, Gap: 16.928

24^th – No. 2, Luis Leeds*, AUS, Josef Kaufmann Racing, Gap: 19.280

25^th – No. 31, Neil Verhagen*, USA, MP Motorsport, Gap: 1 lap

26^th – No. 29, Richard Verschoor*, NLD, MP Motorsport, Gap: 2 laps

 

Not Classified

No. 30, Jarno Opmeer*, NLD, MP Motorsport, Lap 12

No. 5, Thomas Maxwell*, AUS, Tech 1 Racing, Lap 11

No. 15, Axel Matus*, MEX, AVF by Adrián Vallés, Lap 6

No. 26, Presley Martono*, IND, Mark Burdett Motorsport, Lap 6

 

Fastest Lap

No. 11, Sacha Fenestraz, FRA, Josef Kaufmann Racing, Lap 7, 1:29.039, 174.9 kph

Points After Race 15

Drivers

1^st – Sacha Fenestraz, 235 points

2^nd – Robert Shwartzman, 208 points

3^rd – Will Palmer, 206

4^th – Gabriel Aubry, 153

5^th – Max Defourny, 150 points

6^th – Daniel Ticktum, 112 points

7^th – Max Fewtrell, 109 points

8^th – Alex Peroni, 67 points

9^th – Yifei Ye, 64 points

10^th – Henrique Chaves, 49 points

11^th – Richard Verschoor, 33 points

12^th – Neil Verhagen, 29 points

13^th – Alexander Vartanyan, 27 points

14^th – Thomas Randle, 23 points

15^th – Thomas Maxwell, 14 points

16^th – Raul Guzman, 13 points

17^th – Luis Leeds, 7 points

18^th – Alexey Korneev, 7 points

19^th – Jarno Opmeer, 4 points

20^th – Zane Goddard, 3 points

21^st – Presley Martono/Najiy Razak, 1 point

 

Teams

1^st – R-ace GP, 478 points

2^nd – Josef Kaufmann Racing, 305 points

3^rd – Tech 1 Racing, 276 points

4^th – Arden, 125 points

5^th – Fortec Motorsports, 75 points

7^th – AVF by Adrian Valles, 72 points

6^th – MP Motorsport, 66 points

8^th – JD Motorsport, 27 points

9^th – Mark Burdett Motorsport, 1 point