Photo: Fotospeedy
Noel Leon and Charlie Wurz were the winners of Euroformula’s first two races at Monza.
Race 1 took place on Saturday on a wet track, requiring everyone to use grooved tyre. The delayed start took place behind the safety car and with incredibly heavy rain in sector three racing did not start until lap four.
Poleman Noel Leon aquaplained through Parabolica just as he went to raise his speed for the restart, and almost had contact with Joshua Dufek into turn one while Charlie Wurz in third cut the wet first chicane.
The rain was worsening and the safety car appeared again on lap six, with red flags ending the race on lap 11. Results were taken from the end of lap eight, meaning full points were awarded and championship leader Leon won ahead of Dufek and Wurz.
Race two was on Sunday morning, and Cian Shields had reversed-grid pole. A late-braking move took Wurz from fourth to second at turn one, leading to Francesco Simonazzi cutting the chicane and dropping to the back before pitting.
Wurz went around the outside of Shields at turn one on lap two, and on lap four Shields reclaimed the lead at the della Roggia chicane. On lap five Wurz repeated his earlier move, but Shields responded by going on the inside of him at Curva Grande to get back ahead. Wurz simply made his turn one move again on lap six.
Shields went down the inside at Curva Grande again on lap eight and squeezed Wurz on the run to della Roggia, enablig Joshua Dufek to go past both.
Dufek had previously been fighting over third, with Bryce Aron passing him at Ascari on lap four for the position. Aron was down to fifth behind Noel Leon on lap six, and Leon took third at turn one on lap seven but Dufek reclaimed the place at della Roggia.
After taking the lead, Dufek made a small gap up front as Wurz and Shields battled. Wurz took second place exiting turn one on lap nine, and Shields nudged the rear of his car exiting turn two. That made Shields slow down and Leon drove into the rear of him, then Aron went into the back of Leon and sent him spinning.
Leon retired on the spot, while Aron had a smoking front-left tyre and hobbled to the pits. The safety car came out and racing resumed on lap 11 with four cars on the lead lap.
Wurz dived down the inside of Dufek at della Roggia on lap 12 to get the lead, but Dufek and Shields then passed him at Parabolica. Shields looked set to have the lead going into turn one but Dufek had a big lock-up to stay ahead. They went side-by-side through Curva Grande and della Roggia and there was still no lead change.
On lap 14, Shields took the outside of Curva Grande which became the inside for della Roggia and he moved ahead. The lap after Dufek went to the inside of Curva Grande then cut across at the chicane and ended up breaking his front wing on Shields’ car but passed him. Shields got a puncture from the move, and Wurz moved into the lead at Ascari.
Dufek came back at him at Parabolica, and going into the final lap it was three-wide down the pit straight. The lapped Simonazzi went past both on the outside but Dufek locked up and Wurz braked late to lap him again. Over the final lap Wurz was able to finally establish himself in the lead as Dufek’s damage held him back, while an unlapped Levente Revesz finished a distant third.
Results round-up
Race 1 (8 laps)
1 Noel Leon Motopark 24m55.894s
2 Joshua Dufek CryptoTower Racing Team +0.491s
3 Charlie Wurz CryptoTower Racing Team +1.788s
4 Francesco Simonazzi BVM Racing +2.282s
5 Levente Revesz Motopark +3.013s
6 Cian Shields Motopark +4.045s
7 Bryce Aron Motopark +4.523s
Pole: Leon, 1m44.082s
Fastest lap: Leon, 2m01.197s
Race 2 (16 laps)
1 Wurz 29m45.682s
2 Dufek +3.082s
3 Revesz +1m43.699s
4 Shield +2 laps
5 Simonazzi +2 laps
Ret Aron
Ret Leon
FL: Simonazzi, 1m43.787s
Championship standings
1 Leon 304 2 Shields 237 3 Simonazzi 221 4 Aron 214 5 Juju Noda 118 6 Jakob Bergmeister 116 7 Josh Mason 96 8 Wurz 79 9 Dufek 78 10 Tim Tramnitz 55