Driver Database News

British racer Will Stevens took his eighth points-scoring finish in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship with ninth place in race two at Silverstone today. Despite suffering from understeer the Oxshott, Surrey, ace posted the fourth fastest time in his qualifying group and headed into the race hoping to repeat the form that took him to his sixth podium finish of the year yesterday.

The formation of the grid for the races are dictated by the driver with the fastest lap time overall from both groups taking pole position and the rest of the drivers in that group aligned behind, meaning the 20 year-old would start from the fourth row. At the start of the 14 lap race around the new Silverstone Arena circuit Stevens was looking for a good getaway to help his chances, and a fast start allowed him to get the jump on Carlos Sainz into turn one. Heading into the Maggotts/Becketts complex however, Daniil Kvyat found a way past demoting Stevens to eighth before the end of lap one.

For the opening three laps Stevens held eighth until a rare minor error allowed a recovering Sainz to repass him. Over the closing laps, Stevens increasingly struggled with lack of grip and consequently it was impossible for him to progress any further up the field. Regardless, Stevens’ skill ensured he held fast to secure ninth and another point-scoring finish.

His Silverstone form secures fourth in the championship standings, with four races remaining. With just two DNFs, due to mechanical problems in Spain’s opening race and Hungary’s second race being the only blips in an otherwise points perfect season so far, Stevens now turns his focus to the penultimate series rounds at Paul Ricard.

“In qualifying we underestimated the track change from yesterday and had a lot less grip and a bit of understeer in the high speed corners,” said Will. “In the race I made a good start and managed to get by Sainz going into the first corner. We had quite a good pace at the beginning but then I lost the place to Kvyat who got the run on me out of Becketts.

“Then I started to struggle with understeer and a lack of grip, which resulted in me making a mistake coming out of Club allowing Sainz to get past. The pace went right off towards the end, particularly in sector one and sector three, we just didn’t have the balance right.

“But, looking ahead, we go into the next rounds the way we always do, looking to win. So now we’ll go back and look at the data and see where we struggled today and hopefully we can sort it all out before Paul Ricard.”

The next double-header rounds at Paul Ricard, France take place over the weekend of 17/18 September.

Will Stevens took his sixth podium finish of 2011 with third place in the opening Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship race at Silverstone today. The 20 year-old Surrey racer got up to second on lap three and had race victory in his sights two laps from home, but eventually had to settle for third.

The BRDC Rising Star opened his Formula Renault Eurocup account with victory in Alicante in April and his aim to return to winning ways on his home track got off to a good start. With the 38-car grid split into two for qualifying, Stevens posted the second fastest time in his group to net him a second row start for the first of two races on the new Silverstone Arena circuit.

Before the start a rain shower threatened but despite that Stevens made a good getaway to hold third into turn one, behind his two main series rivals Robert Frijns and Carlos Sainz. With news of an impending drive through penalty for Sainz, for receiving a push start from his mechanics, Stevens wisely elected to hold station.

On lap three Sainz duly pitted for his penalty, allowing Stevens to set about closing down the gap to Frijns ahead, and was the fastest driver on track as he closed up to the back of the leader. However in typical Silverstone fashion, the rain was now falling heavily around the back of the circuit and making conditions tricky to judge.

Two laps from home Stevens saw a chance to wrest the lead from Frijns, when they closed up to lap a slower car. On an increasingly greasy track, Stevens had a tough decision to make about which side to attempt to pass Frijns, with a damp track one side and tyre debris the other.

The former British, European and Asian-Pacific kart champion chose the left but Frijns moved over, pushing Stevens towards the grass and forcing him to back out of the move. Then on the very final corner, Frijns braked early, forcing Stevens to do the same, which allowed Alex Riberas through, demoting Stevens to third.

“I made a good start and good momentum put me in a position to pass Sainz early on but didn’t want to lose time in the early stages,” Will explained. “Then I heard from my Fortec team about his drive-through penalty so it wasn’t worth taking any risks.

“As the race progressed, the track conditions became very tricky, particularly around the back of the circuit where it was quite damp and we were all sliding wide. Frijns caught a backmarker two laps from the end and got held up slightly which allowed me to close right up. I had a tough decision to make in a split second as to which side to try and pass him, it was difficult to judge because the track was damp on one side and had lots of tyre rubber on the other, but I had a go and he moved over, forcing me towards the grass, so I had to back out.

“Then at Brooklands on the final lap he braked much earlier than usual, probably in case it was slippery, and so I did too. This allowed Alex (Riberas) to get the run on me, which is a little disappointing as I really thought we could have had a win today. We had the pace so hopefully we can come back tomorrow with another strong qualifying and get that home win.”

Sunday’s qualifying session will take place at 12.00 and the lights will go green on the 25-lap race two at 15:35.

Will Stevens will be aiming to return to winning ways and the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup podium on home soil as the premier single-seater series holds its only UK round of the season at Silverstone on August, 20-21.

The 20 year-old has been on fine form this year, opening his debut Formula Renault Eurocup account with his first race win at the Spanish circuit of Motorland Aragón in April. The Surrey star has also claimed three pole positions and a trio of podiums in the series so far this season, including a pair of second-place finishes at Spa Francorchamps, Belgium.

Despite a challenging time at the last Hungaroring rounds, Stevens lies fourth in the championship fight 61 points behind the leader. With six races remaining and 150 points still up for grabs the Fortec Motorsport driver has everything to play for, starting with a welcome return to the podium around the new Silverstone Arena circuit.

Stevens is primed in preparation for his big home race. His second Formula Renault UK guest appearance of the year at Snetterton earlier this month added another second-place finish to his season tally after taking the same result at Brands Hatch at the beginning of the year.

The World Series by Renault showcase is expected to attract over 50,000 spectators to the free event at the Northamptonshire track and the former British, European and Asian-Pacific kart champion will be hoping his British fans will be cheering him to victory this weekend.

“I’m really looking forward to Silverstone this weekend and hopefully it will see a return to form and the podium,” said Stevens. “We had a very positive outing last time at Snetterton in the domestic series and learnt a lot so I’ll be looking to improve on that performance in front of my home crowd.

“When you’re competing in a European series, it’s always a boost to race at your home event and I’m excited now to be racing on the new Silverstone layout. Following the strong start to the season in Eurocup, and with five combined podium finishes this season, nothing less than another podium will do.

“The competition in the Eurocup is fierce and I suspect we’ll be joined by some of the British series regulars which will increase the opposition. However if we can get a good set-up on Friday ahead of Saturday’s first qualifying, I’m optimistic we can get another strong finish.”

The Formula Renault Eurocup 2.0 action starts at Silverstone with two 40-minute practice sessions on Friday at 09:00 and 14:05. Qualifying at 09:45 on Saturday morning precedes the first race of the weekend at 14:35. Sunday’s qualifying session will take place at 11:45 and the lights will go green on race two at 15:35.

Surrey race ace Will Stevens endured a trying day in the eighth round of the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup in Budapest on Sunday, but left Hungary with fourth place in the points table. Despite making set-up changes to his car following Saturday’s race, the 20 year-old was not able to reproduce his Friday practice form that netted the third fastest time, qualifying on row seven for the race.

Stevens, from Oxshott, had high hopes heading into qualifying that the changes would improve the car sufficiently to allow him to take his fourth pole position of the season. Yet, come Sunday morning Will was struggling to find the balance and was left frustrated with his pace.

Lining up 14th of the 35 runners Stevens, who scored his first Eurocup podium in last year’s race at the Hungarian track, suffered a clutch problem at the start and lost three places. He managed to claw back two places however and was well clear of the first lap melee behind, which forced the deployment of the safety car.

At the restart he dropped back to 14th and thereafter had a largely uneventful run to 13th, which he took on the final tour.

There was some consolation for the Fortec Motorsport driver however, as two of his main series rivals finished out of the points, to keep the BRDC Rising Star well in the title challenge, with six races remaining.

“It was a trying weekend, we struggled all weekend really. We came into the event having secured four top four finishes in five races including three podiums and so far this season we’ve been on the pace at pretty much every race. So to come away from the circuit where I enjoyed second place in a one-off guest appearance last year, without a podium, is rather disappointing,” he said.

“The weekend started pretty good with the third fastest time in the second free practice and I was confident of being able to improve on that with set-up changes made for the second qualifying on Sunday morning.

“Unfortunately though we went the wrong way with the settings. I didn’t make a very good start as I had a clutch problem off the line and lost three places as a result. I managed to get two back, but after the safety car period I struggled for the next couple of laps. I just wasn’t quick enough. However, we will put that behind us now and focus on the next event, in front of the home crowd, where hopefully we can return to the pace of the opening three rounds.”

The former multiple kart champion comes away from Budapest in fourth place and heads into the next rounds of the championship, his only UK appearance in the series, at Silverstone over the weekend of 20/21 August 2011, looking for a return to the podium in front of an expected 50,000 spectators.

Rising British racing driver Will Stevens from Oxshott, Surrey notched up tenth place in round seven of the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup at Budapest on Saturday. The 20 year-old put his experience of the Hungarian track, where he scored his maiden Eurocup podium finish last year, to good use, getting off the line cleanly for the start of the 14-lap race.

Thereafter the former British, European and Asian-Pacific kart champion, who has three podium finishes under his belt this season, moved up two places from his grid slot, to take his sixth consecutive points-scoring result and consolidate his fourth place in the points table.

Thirty-five identical 2-litre Formula Renault cars took to the track for Saturday morning’s qualifying sessions, with the field split into two groups. Stevens, along with his three Fortec Motorsport team-mates, was out second but qualifying unfortunately didn’t quite match the form of Friday’s free practice, in which he was third fastest.

The 15-minute qualifying was interrupted by full course yellow and saw the BRDC Rising Star wait until the closing moments to mount a serious challenge for the top spot. His penultimate lap had him post a fast final sector but he lost time slightly in sector one on his last lap. Despite a fast second and third sector, Stevens was unable to capitalise on that pace and ended up sixth.

The formation of the grid for the races are dictated by the driver with the fastest lap time overall from both groups taking pole position and the rest of the drivers in that group aligned behind. The drivers from the other group line up on the other side of the grid putting Will on the outside of the sixth row. A good getaway allowed him to maintain position on the opening lap and by lap two he had made up a place, sweeping into 11th and then taking tenth three laps later.

The deployment of the safety car brought Steven’s charge to a premature halt however and after securing his maiden podium there last season, and setting a good pace in free practice, Will was understandably frustrated by the result but looking forward to returning to podium form tomorrow. A poor result by series leader Carlos Sainz jnr. which allowed the eventual race winner Robert Frijns to close the gap at the top, has allowed Will to keep in the fight for the title, in fourth place in the standings ahead of tomorrow’s eighth round.

“I had high expectations of a good result here this weekend after last year obviously but in practice I didn’t get such a good run on new tyres as the red flag stopped the session. The track conditions changed quite a bit for qualifying and I don’t think I was able to reach the full potential of the car and of course the way the qualifying works being sixth in session, meant I started 12th. I didn’t make the best of starts but by the end of lap one was still in 12th place. I had a good rhythm going but unfortunately the safety car period meant I couldn’t overtake and at the restart, I lost that rhythm which prevented me from moving up further. But I had a long chat with my engineer and we’ve made some changes to the car now which I’m confident will help for tomorrow’s qualifying,” he said.

“It’s a shame that I wasn’t able to fully capitalise on Sainz’s qualifying problems and close the gap down, but thankfully we haven’t lost out too much today. If we can get a good qualifying tomorrow it’d be nice to end the weekend with a strong positive result.”

MP Motorsport came extremely close to earning its first podium finish of the 2011 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season at the Nurburgring in Germany last weekend, 18th/19th June, with Estonian teenager Karl-Oscar Liiv just missing out on third place during the final lap of race two.

The second of the weekend’s encounters was by far the best for the Dutch team with Liiv almost managing to grab the last podium place on lap 12. In the end, he took the chequered flag just 0.1 seconds adrift to secure his first championship points of the season in the ultra-competitive series.

Starting seventh on the grid, Liiv – who celebrated his 18th birthday on Sunday – moved into the top six on lap one before taking fifth place on lap five. Dicing with Miki Weckstrom over fourth position for a couple of laps, Liiv made the place his own on lap nine before then challenging Timmy Hansen for third all the way to the finish.

Fellow Estonian Johannes Moor excelled in the tricky, wet conditions and sliced his way through the order fantastically well after being forced to start the race from the back of the substantial 34-car grid due to a mix-up during qualifying.

Several drivers, Moor included, were made to leave the track by a marshal and enter Parc Ferme before qualifying had ended so were prevented from finishing their flying laps. Seriously damaging Moor’s chances, the 18-year-old raced superbly and charged through into an exceptional 12th place.

Swedish team-mate Kevin Kleveros also had to start lower down the order for race two than would ordinarily be expected due to a few problems during the wet qualifying session. Lining up in 25th position, the 19-year-old made very good progress and his pace was impressive but all of his hard work was undone on lap six due to a fuel pump issue – easily costing him a deserved top 10 finish.

Team principal Sander Dorsman commented: “All three drivers did a fantastic job in race two, Karl-Oscar was so close to getting on the podium – he almost did it on the last lap but just missed out in the end. Fourth place though is still a great result for us.

“Johannes raced really well, he overtook a lot of cars in the 12 laps and really did do a great job to get as high as 12th place. Unfortunately, Kevin wasn’t able to complete the race because of the fuel pump breaking but without that big problem we’re sure he would have been in the top 10.”

Race one wasn’t as fruitful for MP Motorsport with Kleveros starting in 15th position, just over a second shy of pole position, ahead of Moor in 16th and Liiv in 19th place. In the end, Kleveros finished in 13th position just a fraction ahead of Liiv while Moor was 17th.

Little over a week remains until the next Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 race meeting which will be held at the Hungaroring in Hungary on 2nd/3rd July.

Provisional 2011 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Driver Standings:
13th Karl-Oscar Liiv, 12pts; 21st Kevin Kleveros, 1pt; No score – Johannes Moor

Photo by Chris Schotanus/Essay Produkties.

New Zealand’s top young racing driver, Richie Stanaway (18) recently took part in the official end of season Formula Renault 2.0 test day on the Monday following the last round of the World Series by Renault at the well-known Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. Richie was invited to the test after winning this year’s ADAC Formel Masters championship in Germany, and took part with Eurocup Championship-winning team, Koiranen Bros Motorsport.

Many drivers from all over the world were invited to the test, with the format featuring two 90 minute sessions. In the first session Richie finished third quickest, with the two quicker drivers having experience with the circuit or car beforehand. In the final session the drivers set times on a new tyre run, and Richie was sitting second quickest in the early part of the session before most of the other drivers did a second new tyre run at the very end of the session bumping Richie further down the order.

Reflecting on his test day, Stanaway says it was a great experience. “It was fantastic to drive the new style Formula Renault 2.0, especially on such an amazing venue as the Circuit de Catalunya. It was a very valuable experience for me as a driver”

Menasheh Idafar underlined his burgeoning potential during officially timed Formula Renault UK Winter Championship testing at Snetterton in Norfolk today, Friday, 30th October, by concluding the outing an excellent fourth fastest on combined times.

In the last of today’s 40-minute sessions this afternoon, the 18-year-old produced a quickest lap of 1m04.631 seconds (108.72mph) on his final run to go second overall and the fastest of the Manor Competition drivers with around three minutes to go.

With team-mate David McDonald and fellow front-runner Harry Tincknell – 2009 Formula Renault UK Graduate Cup Winner – just edging ahead by fractions of a second at the finish though, Menasheh slipped to fourth fastest but the end result was still extremely impressive, just 0.270 seconds shy of the outright pace.

During this morning’s opening session, the Gulf Computer Services and Ortolan-backed driver was seventh on the timesheets with a time of 1m07.765 seconds (103.69mph). Then, in the second period, he improved to a superb third quickest, having been at the head of the times with just a few minutes remaining thanks to a lap of 1m05.151 seconds (107.85mph).

Happy with his performance today, Menasheh commented: “My fastest lap in the last session could have been better as I made a small mistake but I’m very happy to be in the top four, especially as we only used one set of new tyres at the end. The car is good and I’m really enjoying it, now I’m looking forward to the start of the Winter Championship tomorrow.”

Qualifying for the opening two races of the 2009 Formula Renault UK Winter Championship will take place at 09.30 tomorrow, Saturday, 31st October, at Snetterton with round one scheduled to get underway at approximately 10.50. The second 15-lap encounter will follow at around 13.30.

Photo by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs brought his 2009 racing campaign to a close in the final rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship at Motorland Aragon at the weekend. The 18 year-old, fresh from a successful F3 test last week, went straight to Spain for the double-header event with the intention of taking fourth in the standings.

On arrival at the new circuit Adrian went straight into two free practice sessions in which the BRDC Rising was left disappointed by the pace. Despite winding up fourth quickest in the first session, his times were set on new tyres with his rivals on old, leaving the Motopark Academy team work to do before qualifying.

This they did to good effect however, the Tonbridge teenager bouncing back to form with the fourth fastest time in his group just over a tenth off pole. In the combined Superpole shootout to determine the grid for race one, Adrian against set the fourth fastest lap, two places ahead of his chief rival Miki Monras.

Saturday’s opening race proved largely uneventful for Adrian. A good start allowed him to hold position but by the end of the opening lap he’d dropped to seventh. With one eye on the whereabouts of Monras behind, Adrian drove a steady mid-part of the race concentrating on keeping a solid sixth place but as the race neared the end, the former double T-Cars champion upped his pace to stretch the gap to Monras.

In Sunday’s race two, Adrian again started from fourth, and the fraught race proved nail-biting right to the flag. With the championship title still very much at stake between three drivers, including Adrian’s team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa, team tactics were much in evidence over the course of the race.

But for Adrian, the battle for fourth was very much his target, entering the race on equal points with Monras. At the start, he had the advantage with a car in between them as the race progressed.

The battle for the race lead was fought out by six drivers, with the lead changing hands several times over the race distance. Throughout Adrian enjoyed a battle with Jean Eric Vergne, the pair swapping places several times.

On the penultimate lap, with his championship position secured, Adrian upped his pace to pass Kevin Magnussen and cross the line fourth, to give him that position in the points standings.

Adrian will now stay in Spain to take part in the official World Series by Renault tests which take place on Wednesday, when he will drive a Comtec Racing car.

Race winning team MP Motorsport is delighted to confirm it will once again focus its participation in Eurocup Formula Renault and the Northern European Cup in 2010 having ordered three brand new cars from Renault Sport Technologies.

With Formula Renault championships across the world replacing the hugely successful FR 2.0 Tatuus chassis with the freshly designed Barrazi-Epsilon car from next year, MP Motorsport is already busy preparing for its introduction with an intensive winter testing programme throughout Europe.

The Dutch team has enjoyed good success in recent events with podium finishes at Germany’s Nurburgring and in the Formula Renault NEC race meeting at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

Now, the Oudenbosch-based squad is keen to hear from interested drivers who would like to discuss testing opportunities and also the 2010 race programme in two of the continent’s most competitive one-make single-seater championships. Currently, MP Motorsport has lodged three entries for Eurocup and three more for the NEC.

“We’re very keen to hear from any drivers interested in testing with us in Europe over the winter months, we have an intensive programme in place with a lot of running planned in Spain and Portugal to take advantage of the warmer weather”, said MP Motorsport’s Sander Dorsman.

“It’s been a good season for MP Motorsport. We’ve had some great success with several podium finishes and now we’re looking forward to the last Eurocup race of the season in Spain at the end of the month before embarking on our winter testing schedule.”

Next on the calendar for MP motorsport is the final Eurocup Formula Renault race meeting of the season which will take place at Motorland Aragon in Spain over the weekend 24th/25th October.

To get in touch with the team regarding testing opportunities and race drives in 2010, please contact Sander Dorsman on 0031 (0) 6516 70158 or by email through sander@mpmotorsport.nl