Home Z - Archive seriesFormula Renault Eurocup Gasly takes championship lead with controlled race one victory

Gasly takes championship lead with controlled race one victory

by Ant Musker
Pierre Gasly

Photo: Renault Sport/DPPI

Pierre Gasly took the lead of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship with a lights to flag drive in race one at Paul Ricard.

Championship rival Oliver Rowland, who started tenth on the grid, managed to finish sixth but surrendered his advantage in the title race as Gasly took the flag after holding off Luca Ghiotto.

Gasly did not pull away from pole too cleanly yet maintained his lead under pressure from Ghiotto of Prema.

Meanwhile Rowland had started with great intent from the fifth row as a safety car was deployed due to the an incident involving Columbian Oscar Tunjo.

At the restart, Gasly continued to take charge, while Ignazio D?Agosto in fourth place attempted to pressure Nyck de Vries but Jake Dennis managed to capitalise and pass the Italian.

There was little more movement in the top ten as Rowland, up to sixth, held off advances of Egor Orudzhev.

Ghiotto would not let Gasly clear away out front but was unable to pass the Frenchman as the front three came home unchanged. Dennis? pass on D?Agosto earned him fourth place with Rowland finishing sixth ahead of Orudzhev who slipped from fifth on the gird.

Sweden?s Gustav Malja achieved his first top ten finish of the season, finishing eighth after starting fifteenth. Esteban Ocon, who sits third in the championship managed ninth ahead of William Vermont.

But it was a successful race for Gasly who, with three rounds left, takes control of the championship with a 16 point lead over Rowland.

Race results
Pos Driver? Team Time/Gap
1 Pierre Gasly Tech 1 Racing 13 laps in 28:42.350
2 Luca Ghiotto Prema Powerteam +0.823
3 Nyck De Vries Koiranen GP +2.719
4 Jake Dennis Fortec Motorsports +5.233
5 Ignazio D’Agosto KTR +10.110
6 Oliver Rowland Manor MP Motorsport +11.605
7 Egor Orudzhev Tech 1 Racing +11.998
8 Gustav Malja Josef Kaufmann Racing +13.962
9 Esteban Ocon ART Junior Team +14.007
10 William Vermont ARTA Engineering +15.107
11 Guilherme Silva Koiranen GP +15.567
12 Victor Franzoni Koiranen GP +16.385
13 Benjamin Bailly RC Formula +17.600
14 S.Schothorst Josef Kaufmann Racing +22.258
15 Matt Parry Fortec Motorsports +25.402
16 Matthieu Vaxiviere Tech 1 Racing +26.652
17 Kevin Jorg Jenzer Motorsport +27.471
18 Bruno Bonifacio Prema Powerteam +27.773
19 Andrea Pizzitola ART Junior Team +27.888
20 Marcos Siebert Jenzer Motorsport +28.872
21 Nicolas Jamin ART Junior Team +29.629
22 Joffrey De Narda ARTA Engineering +29.714
23 Roman Mavlanov RC Formula +31.607
24 Yu Kanamaru KTR +32.240
25 Leo Roussel Manor MP Motorsport +32.692
26 Gregor Ramsay Manor MP Motorsport +37.717
27 Simon Tirman ARTA Engineering +47.378
28 Alejandro Abogado Interwetten.com Racing +53.424
29 Mikko Pakari Fortec Motorsports +1:56.441
Not classified
Alexander Albon KTR 10 laps
Bernd Herndlhofer Interwetten.com Racing 8 laps
Mattia Vita RC Formula 7 laps
Ed Jones Fortec Motorsports 6 laps
Levin Amweg Jenzer Motorsport 3 laps
Ryan Tveter Fortec Motorsports 0 laps
Oscar Tunjo Josef Kaufmann Racing 0 laps
Aurelien Panis Prema Powerteam 0