Lorenzo Colombo took a maiden Formula Renault Eurocup win for Bhaitech at Hockenheim as a mechanical problem hampered title contender Caio Collet.
ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins entered the race with a chance of clinching the championship with two races to spare but needed to win with R-ace GP’s Collet failing to score.
Martins made a good start to lead from Colombo initially but, while defending from MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto, Martins opened the door for Colombo to go around the outside of the Turn 6 hairpin.
There, Colombo ran off the circuit but was ahead of Martins when he did so, and no investigation followed.
Colombo was then able to open up a small gap before a safety car was brought out as Collet came to a halt.
After dominating on Saturday, Collet had a clutch change right before Sunday’s qualifying began and started down in eighth. He had moved his way up into fourth and was resisting pressure from Arden’s Alex Quinn when his car came to an abrupt halt towards the midpoint of the 30-minute race.
On the restart with a third of the race remaining, Colombo was once again able to open a gap to Martins on his way to his first victory of a difficult season. He only took part in the weekend’s races having missed Friday’s practice running before getting a negative COVID-19 test result.
Martins now needs just seven points on home soil at Paul Ricard next weekend to seal the title. ART has secured the teams’ title in its first season back in the category.
Colapinto was several seconds behind in third, ahead of top rookie Quinn.
Paul Aron rounded out the top five for ART, ahead of R-ace’s Michael Belov. JD Motorsport’s David Vidales, Arden’s Ugo de Wilde, JD’s William Alatalo and Arden’s Reshad de Gerus rounded out the points finishers.
In addition to Collet, two further drivers retired due to mechanical problems. MP’s Hadrien David pulled off in the early stages of the race with smoke at the rear of the car, while ART’s Gregoire Saucy pulled in with an issue towards the end of the race.
Race results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lorenzo Colombo | Bhaitech | 19 laps |
| 2 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | +1.803s |
| 3 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | +5.901s |
| 4 | Alex Quinn | Arden | +6.979s |
| 5 | Paul Aron | ART Grand Prix | +11.075s |
| 6 | Michael Belov | R-ace GP | +14.020s |
| 7 | David Vidales | JD Motorsport | +14.520s |
| 8 | Ugo de Wilde | Arden | +15.571s |
| 9 | William Alatalo | JD Motorsport | +17.031s |
| 10 | Reshad de Gerus | Arden | +18.531s |
| 11 | Amaury Cordeel | FA Racing by Manor | +19.231s |
| 13 | Petr Ptacek | MP Motorsport | +21.879s |
| 14 | Tijmen van der Helm | FA Racing by Manor | +23.640s |
| 15 | Laszlo Toth | Bhaitech | +30.902s |
| 16 | Nicola Marinangeli | Bhaitech | +52.152s |
| Ret | Gregoire Saucy | ART Grand Prix | |
| Ret | Caio Collet | R-ace GP | |
| Ret | Hadrien David | MP Motorsport | |
| Fastest lap: Colombo, 1m37.652s
Championship standings |
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