Home Z - Archive seriesFormula Renault Eurocup Lorenzo Colombo wins at Paul Ricard as Eurocup title fight tightens

Lorenzo Colombo wins at Paul Ricard as Eurocup title fight tightens

by Joe Hudson

Photo: Renault Sport / DPPI

Lorenzo Colombo secured his first Formula Renault Eurocup win of the year in the opening Paul Ricard race, enjoying an untroubled run to the chequered flag.

The Italian, starting on pole, made a better start than Oscar Piastri, but didn’t get to enjoy a lead until a rapid getaway after an early safety car restart. He won by 4.945 seconds.

R-ace GP driver Piastri finished second, holding off late pressure from Colombo’s MP Motorsport team-mate Victor Martins.

With the second R-ace GP car of Alexander Smolyar in fourth, Piastri is now the closest to leader Martins in the standings. The team’s third car, driven by Caio Collet, finished a distant fifth.

Having lost several places after running wide at the first corner on the opening lap, Kush Maini recovered to sixth for M2 Competition after a drive back up the field which featured a textbook late-braking manoeuvre on Ugo De Wilde, who ended the race one spot behind.

Eighth went the way of de Wilde’s JD Motorsport team-mate Joao Vieira, with Arden duo Sebastian Fernandez and Frank Bird completing the points. This was despite FA Racing by Drivex’s Callan O?Keeffe pressuring Bird throughout.

The only safety car of the race came from a first corner collision between Amaury Cordeel and Petr Ptacek which put the pair out on the spot ? the latter sporting a broken rear-wing and front-left wheel.

 

Race results
Pos Name Team Time
1 Lorenzo Colombo MP Motorsport 15 laps
2 Oscar Piastri R-ace FP +4.945s
3 Victor Martins MP Motorsport +5.621s
4 Alexander Smolyar R-ace GP +9.122s
5 Caio Collet R-ace GP +11.692s
6 Kush Maini M2 Competition +12.721s
7 Ugo de Wilde JD Motorsport +19.864s
8 Joao Vieira JD Motorsport +21.593s
9 Sebastian Fernandez Arden +22.407s
10 Frank Bird Arden +24.937s
11 Callan O’Keeffe FA Racing by Drivex +26.012s
12 Xavier Lloveras Global Racing Service +39.071s
13 Federico Malvestiti Bhaitech +42.880s
14 Brad Benavides FA Racing by Drivex +43.520s
15 Patrick Schott FA Racing by Drivex +1m02.293s
16 Leonardo Lorandi JD Motorsport +1 lap
17 Lucas Alecco Roy M2 Competition +3 laps
Ret Patrik Pasma Arden
Ret Alessio Deledda Global Racing Service
Ret Amaury Cordeel MP Motorsport
Ret Petr Ptacek Bhaitech
Fastest lap: Colombo, 1m59.516s

Championship Standings
1
?Martins 104? ?2?Piastri 102? ?3?Smolyar 98? ?4 Colombo 72? ?5 Collet 65? ?6 Vieira 54? ?7 de Wilde 51? ?8 Maini 42? ?9?Lorandi 36? ?10 Ptacek 17