Photo: Campos Racing
Campos Racing’s Esteban Masson grew his Eurocup-3 points lead with two wins at Zandvoort as the paddock grew to 18 cars.
Saturday’s action began with two practice sessions, and MP Motorsport’s Jose Garfias topped FP1 with a 1m32.285s. Esteban Masson and team-mate Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak were the top two in FP2, and their 1m32.397s and 1m32.490s efforts put them second and third overall in practice.
Qualifying for race one was a battle between MP’s Mari Boya and Masson, as they traded first place multiple times. Masson took pole with a 1m32.365s, and MP’s Bruno del Pino snuck into second place with his last lap, relegating Boya to third.
Race one took place on a wet and windy Sunday morning, and began with three laps behind the safety car after Palou Motorsport’s Jorge Campos spun en route to the grid.
When racing got underway on lap four, Masson and Boya were among the six drivers who slid off at turn one and the safety car was called out again as Campos’s Francesco Braschi got stuck in the gravel there.
Del Pino inherited the lead ahead of team-mates Sebastian Ogaard and Sebastian Gravlund as more rain fell, and after Braschi was towed back onto track he was a lap down.
Racing resumed on lap seven and Ogaard passed del Pino for the lead before the safety car was summoned once more as Drivex School’s Nick Gilkes was spun into the gravel. Masson got back up to third, and Boya dropped to 14th while Braschi was black flagged.
The next restart was on lap 10 and Masson went around the outside of del Pino at turn one for second place. The top two quickly pulled away, and Masson reclaimed the lead on lap 12. By the end of the 14-lap race he was 3.5s clear of Ogaard, with Inthraphuvasak 10s back in third after he passed del Pino.
Suleiman Zanfari was chasing del Pino at the finish but got a three-second penalty, and down the field Campos ended his race in the turn one gravel.
Q2 was another Boya-Mason battle, with Boya on top when qualifying was red-flagged with four-and-a-half minutes remaining after Palou’s Javier Sagrera struck trouble. There was a 15-minute break before the session restarted, and with no improved laptimes it meant Boya took pole ahead of Masson and del Pino.
Gravlund was slowest and could not even make it to the grid for the dry race two, which began with a fast-starting Masson taking the lead.
On lap two Drivex’s David Morales and Gilkes spun after contact at turn one, and thereon it was mostly calm with Boya and Masson trading fastest lap. Masson won, Ogaard was a distant third and Garfias held on to fourth until lap 14 when he was passed by Inthraphuvasak and del Pino.
The results were taken on the next lap as Campos crashed entering the final corner on lap 16 and the race was red-flagged.
Results round-up
Race 1 (14 laps)
1 Esteban Masson Campos Racing 32m50.121
2 Sebastian Ogaard MP Motorsport +3.501s
3 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak Campos Racing +10.134s
4 Bruno del Pino MP Motorsport +11.040s
5 Javier Sagrera Palou Motorsport +12.648s
6 Jose Garfias MP Motorsport +13.312s
7 Suleiman Zanfari Campos Racing +14.952s
8 Sebastian Gravlund MP Motorsport +16.699s
9 Daniel Nogales Drivex School +19.813s
10 Mari Boya MP Motorsport +23.330s
Pole: Masson, 1m32.365s
Fastest lap: Masson, 1m42.284s
Race 2 (15 laps)
1 Masson
2 Boya +4.499s
3 Ogaard +11.982s
4 Inthraphuvasak +14.928s
5 del Pino +15.852s
6 Garfias +17.123s
7 Francesco Braschi Campos Racing +26.869s
8 Sagrera +27.895s
9 Nogales +35.831s
10 Miron Pingasov Palou Motorsport +48.746s
P: Boya, 1m32.763s
FL: Boya, 1m33.535
Championship standings
1 Masson 151 2 Boya 116 3 Ogaard 107 4 Braschi 89 5 Garfias 71 6 Sagrera 60 7 Inthraphuvasak 56 8 del Pino 50 9 Zanfari 37 10 Cenyu Han 21