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Deletraz victorious in first race of Formula Renault NEC at Monza

by Gruz David
Photo: Formula Renault 2.0 NEC

Photo: Formula Renault 2.0 NEC

Josef Kaufmann Racing’s Louis Deletraz converted his first pole position into a maiden race victory in the opening race of the 2014 Formula Renault NEC season at Monza.

The 16-year-old Swiss driver led every lap of the race, despite being challenged by Ukyo Sasahara in the closing minutes until the checkered flag.

Deletraz made a good start from first on the grid, while, behind him, there was some opening lap mayhem, with incidents involving top ten starters Roy Geerts and Matthew Graham.

While the Swiss poleman pulled away, fellow front row starter Sasahara lost a position at the start to Andrea Pizzitola, but the Euronova man was able to reclaim it shortly thereafter.

The Japanese racer then went on to close the gap on Deletraz, which led to the leading duo being separated by less than a second at the checkered flag.

The podium was completed by Pizzitola, who saw off a challenge from Lewin Amweg, with the ART Junior Team driver eventually having settle for fourth. The top five was rounded out by Manor MP’s Steijn Schothorst.

Series debutant Stefan Riener ran in sixth before retiring from the race, allowing Alex Albon to slot into the position, who was closely followed by Kevin Jorg at the flag. Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Raoul Owens took eighth ahead of Racing Steps Foundation-backed Ben Barnicoat and Lotus junior member Gregor Ramsay, all of whom were less than 2.5s behind sixth-placed Albon.

The second race of the weekend will start tomorrow at 9:55 local time with Jorg and Deletraz sharing front row.

Race results
Pos. Driver Team Time/Gap
1 Louis Deletraz Josef Kaufmann Racing 14 laps in 25:57.545
2 Ukyo Sasahara Euronova +0.822
3 Andrea Pizzitola Manor MP Motorsport +3.568
4 Levin Amweg ART Junior Team +4.946
5 Steijn Schothorst Manor MP Motorsport +5.780
6 Alex Albon KTR +9.869
7 Kevin Jorg Josef Kaufmann Racing +10.117
8 Raoul Owens Mark Burdett Motorsport +10.809
9 Ben Barnicoat Fortec Motorsports +11.193
10 Gregor Ramsay KTR +12.026
11 Jakub Dalewski Euronova +20.765
12 Martin Kodric Fortec Motorsports +24.067
13 Leopold Ringbom PositiOne Motorsport +24.787
14 Josef Zaruba AVF +26.853
15 Seb Morris Fortec Motorsports +37.380
16 Danyil Pronenko AS Motorsport by GSK +37.682
17 Julio Moreno Manor MP Motorsport +40.294
18 Nicholas Surguladze AVF +42.124
19 Matthew Graham AVF +49.815
20 David Richert Inter Europol +1:12.775
21 Philip Morin Manor MP Motorsport +4 laps
22 Stefan Riener MGR Motorsport +4 laps
Not classified
Robin Hansson Fragus BR Motorsport +6 laps
Andrea Baiguera Brixa Horse Power +7 laps
Gustav Malja Josef Kaufmann Racing +8 laps
Ryan Tveter Josef Kaufmann Racing +10 laps
Jorge Cevallos Fortec Motorsports +11 laps
Callan O’Keeffe ART Junior Team +13 laps
Aurelien Panis ART Junior Team +14 laps
Roy Geerts AVF +14 laps
Jules Gounon KTR +14 laps
Jake Hughes Mark Burdett Motorsport +14 laps