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PaddockScout Roundup: World Series by Renault Paul Ricard

by Peter Allen

Formula Renault 3.5: Sainz close to title after convincing double

Carlos Sainz

Photo: Francois Flamand/DPPI

Carlos Sainz is just six points away from sealing the Formula Renault 3.5 title after an impressive return to form with a double victory in the penultimate round at Paul Ricard. Having seen his points lead slashed to just 16 a fortnight earlier in Hungary, Sainz returned to the front in France, winning the first race from pole to flag and dominating the second after getting the best start from second on the grid.

Red Bull stable-mate Pierre Gasly was the closest man to Sainz, putting in another impressive weekend on home soil. On Saturday he started and finished second, and on Sunday he qualified on pole. But losing out to Sainz at the start and struggling to keep up after that meant Gasly would have to settle for his sixth second-place of the year instead of his maiden win.

Sainz’s title rival Roberto Merhi lacked the speed from his Zeta Corse car that took him to wins in the previous three rounds and would instead have to make do with a fifth and fourth, and a slim chance of the title going to Jerez.

Oliver Rowland qualified down in eighth in both races, but strong pace delivered him third place in race two. A super start got him up to the same position in race one, only to be tagged at the first corner and given a puncture, restricting him to 13th. Matthieu Vaxiviere collected his second podium of the year after that contact with Rowland, and was sixth in race two.

Formula Renault 3.5 Series Round 8/9 ? Paul Ricard, France
Race 1
Report: Sainz opens up points lead with lights-to-flag Paul Ricard win
1st: Carlos Sainz 2nd: Pierre Gasly 3rd: Matthieu Vaxiviere
Race 2
Report: Carlos Sainz claims dominant second win at Paul Ricard
1st: Carlos Sainz 2nd: Pierre Gasly 3rd: Oliver Rowland
Championship standings
1 Carlos Sainz 227 pts
2 Roberto Merhi 183 pts
3 Pierre Gasly 172 pts
4 Oliver Rowland 138 pts
5 Sergey Sirotkin 107 pts
6 Will Stevens 97 pts
Next round: Jerez (18-19 October)

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0: De Vries claims crown in style

Nyck de Vries

Photo: Vincent Curutchet/DPPI

Nyck de Vries proved himself to be a worthy winner of this year’s Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 title with a dominant double win at Paul Ricard – enough to secure the crown with a round to go. The Dutch driver was untouchable all weekend, winning both races from pole position by comfortable margins, taking the fastest lap each time.

Chief rival Dennis Olsen kept his hopes alive with sixth in race one, but was eliminated from race two in first lap chaos triggered by reckless use of the circuit’s vast run-offs by others. Andrea Pizzitola‘s slim title chances also ended after a fifth and an eighth, but he is just eight points behind Olsen in the fight for the runner-up spot.

Egor Orudzhev enjoyed his best weekend of the season, returning to the podium for the first time since the season opener with second in race one, before adding third in race two. Alex Albon got his third podium of the year with third in race one before finishing back in 13th in race two, while Aurelien Panis was fourth and then second in his two home races.

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Round 6/7 ? Paul Ricard, France
Race 1
Report: De Vries strolls to victory in first Paul Ricard race
1st: Nyck de Vries 2nd: Egor Orudzhev 3rd: Alex Albon
Race 2
Report: De Vries wins again, clinches 2014 Eurocup title
1st: Nyck de Vries 2nd: Aurelien Panis 3rd: Egor Orudzhev
Championship standings
1 Nyck de Vries 204 pts
2 Dennis Olsen 116 pts
3 Andrea Pizzitola 108 pts
4 Alex Albon 93 pts
5 Egor Orudzhev 82 pts
6 Bruno Bonifacio 80 pts
Next round: Jerez (18-19 October)

Euroformula Open: Stuvik completes title march with two more wins at Monza

Sandy Stuvik

Photo: Fotospeedy

Sandy Stuvik clinched the Euroformula Open title with his third straight double victory in the category at the penultimate round at Monza. As at Spa three weeks earlier, the Thai driver was dominant from pole position in the two races.

His RP Motorsport team-mate Artur Janosz was a distant second in both races, taking second place in the standings away from karting gradaute Alex Palou, who had a tough non-scoring weekend. Contact caused the Spaniard to roll out of race one at the first chicane, and be classified a lap down in race two due to a puncture.

Yu Kanamaru and Christopher Hoher took third place in the respective races, while Kevin Giovesi was twice fourth on a guest return to the series on home soil.

Euroformula Open Round 7/8 ? Monza, Italy
Race 1
Report: Stuvik continues to dominate EF Open with fifth consecutive win
1st: Sandy Stuvik 2nd: Artur Janosz 3rd: Yu Kanamaru
Race 2
Report: Stuvik picks up sixth win in a row to secure EF Open title
1st: Sandy Stuvik 2nd: Artur Janosz 3rd: Christopher Hoher
Championship standings
1 Sandy Stuvik 293 pts
2 Artur Janosz 216 pts
3 Alex Palou 197 pts
4 Yu Kanamaru 108 pts
5 Yarin Stern 92 pts
6 Konstantin Tereshchenko 75 pts
Next round: Barcelona (1-2 November)

Protyre Formula Renault: Noble and Hickin share wins at Silverstone finale

Protyre Formula Renault

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Colin Noble and?Piers Hickin took a win each from the final round of Protyre Formula Renault at Silverstone. Noble claimed pole for the opening race and just held off an attack at the finish line from Hickin to score his first single-seater victory. He then finished a close second to Hickin in race two, as the Scorpio driver clinched his second win of the campaign and secured P2 in the championship.

After wrapping up the title a week beforehand at Croft, Pietro Fittipaldi failed to take a win away from a meeting for the first time this year. He was third on the road in race one, but was demoted to fourth for contact with his MGR team-mate Matteo Ferrer. Fittipaldi led race two from pole, but a sudden loss of momentum saw him shuffled down to fifth within two corners. He would fight back to third, albeit after yet more contact with Ferrer.

A third and a fifth was enough to Ferrer to take third in the final standings ahead of Fortec rookie Alex Gill, who could only manage sixth and ninth from a difficult final weekend.

Protyre Formula Renault Championship Round 6/6 ? Silverstone, UK
Race 1
Report: Noble narrowly beats Hickin to secure maiden victory
1st: Colin Noble 2nd: Piers Hickin 3rd: Matteo Ferrer
Race 2
Report: Hickin claims victory in Protyre Formula Renault finale at Silverstone
1st: Piers Hickin 2nd: Colin Noble 3rd: Pietro Fittipaldi
Championship standings
1 Pietro Fittipaldi 431 pts
2 Piers Hickin 366 pts
3 Matteo Ferrer 347 pts
4 Alex Gill 342 pts
5 Colin Noble 286 pts
6 Patrick Dussault 240 pts
Season completed

Formula Ford GB: Kruger draws level with Scott with a round to go

Formula Ford

Photo: Paul Davies Photography

Jayde Kruger and Harrison Scott will go into the final Formula Ford GB round tied for the points lead after the former claimed two more victories at Silverstone and the latter lost points when he spun following contact between the pair.

Kruger scored his 11th and 12th wins of the season from pole position in the weekend’s two main races. Scott was second in those two races to limit the damage, but it was the middle reverse grid race that made the difference. Kruger finished third from sixth on the grid, while Scott would end up down in eighth after the first-lap incident with his rival dropped him to the back of the pack. That cut that gap from 13 to two points, and Scott had to claim fastest lap honours in the final race in order to retain a share of the points lead at the end of the weekend.

Ashley Sutton completed the podium behind the two title rivals in the two main races, and claimed victory in race two, which was also enough for him to wrap up the Scholarship title for rookies. He has now pulled level with Max Marshall for third place in the standings. Marshall failed to finish either of the first two races due to incidents, and finished just behind Sutton in race three to stop himself falling behind.

Formula Ford GB Round 9/10 ? Silverstone, UK
Race 1
Report: Kruger keeps pressure on Scott with race one win at Silverstone
1st: Jayde Kruger 2nd: Harrison Scott 3rd: Ashley Sutton
Race 2
Report: Sutton wins race two at Silverstone as title rivals clash
1st: Ashley Sutton 2nd: James Abbott 3rd: Jayde Kruger
Race 3
Report: Kruger wins Silverstone finale to tie for points lead with a round left
1st: Jayde Kruger 2nd: Harrison Scott 3rd: Ashley Sutton
Championship standings
1 Jayde Kruger 651 pts
2 Harrison Scott 651 pts
3 Ashley Sutton 513 pts
4 Max Marshall 513 pts
5 James Abbott 506 pts
6 Juan Rosso 499 pts
Next round: Brands Hatch (11-12 October)

French F4: Sorensen pulls further away with his second hat-trick

Lasse Sorensen

Photo: Lasse Racing

Lasse Sorensen scored his second French F4 treble in round five at Nogaro, extending his points lead from 38 to 69 with two rounds left. Claiming a double pole in qualifying, the Dane then comfortably led the first race from start to finish. In the reverse grid race two, he inherited the win when Max Defourny and Vladimir Atoev collided, putting the former out of the race and earning the latter a penalty. In race three, Sorensen kept Dorian Boccolacci at bay to take the win.

Lotus F1 junior Boccolacci had also taken second place in race one, and was fourth in race two as a strong-scoring weekend keeps him in title contention, 82 points behind Sorensen. Felix Hirsiger claimed three podiums to keep P2 in the standings, with third in the two main races and second place in race two.

Fourth in the championship, Joseph Mawson dropped back after a poor weekend with a best result of just eighth. Valentin Hasse-Clot was a podium finisher in third in race two, following a fifth in race one and preceding a seventh in race three.

French F4 Championship Round 5/7 ? Nogaro, France
Race 1
Report: Sorensen takes comfortable win in first French F4 race at Nogaro
1st: Lasse Sorensen 2nd: Dorian Boccolacci 3rd: Felix Hirsiger
Race 2
Report:
Sorensen inherits race two win as Atoev and Defourny collide
1st: Lasse Sorensen 2nd: Felix Hirsiger 3rd: Valentin Hasse-Clot
Race 3
Report: Sorensen keeps Boccolacci at bay to complete Nogaro hat-trick
1st: Lasse Sorensen 2nd: Dorian Boccolacci 3rd: Felix Hirsiger
Championship standings
1 Lasse Sorensen 274 pts
2 Felix Hirsiger 205 pts
3 Dorian Boccolacci 192 pts
4 Joseph Mawson 142 pts
5 Denis Bulatov 122 pts
6 Valentin Hasse-Clot 82 pts
Next round: Jerez (18-19 October)

Italian F4: Drudi bursts out of Stroll’s shadow with Monza treble

Mattia Drudi

Photo: ACI Sport

Mattia Drudi immediately responded to doubts about the quality of in Italian F4 in the wake of Lance Stroll‘s cruise to the title by winning all three races at Monza, becoming the category’s first treble winner. He started on pole for race one but was shuffled back to fifth early on before recovering, while in race two he stormed through from tenth on the grid. Race three saw him take the lead at a safety car restart and keep it until the end. He has jumped up from fifth to second in the standings with one round to go.

Stroll led race one but ended up fourth after contact, and was then third in race two. His third race would end at the start when he collected impressive debutant Sennan Fielding. Racing for Euronova, the BRDC F4 regular finished second to Drudi in the first two races before the contact with Stroll ended his weekend early.

Brandon Maisano was another to lead race one before ending up third. He was a first lap retirement in race two after contact, and in race three he started from pole but was made to settle for second by Drudi.

Italian F4 Championship Round 6/7 ? Monza, Italy
Race 1
Report: Drudi triumphs in thrilling race one at Monza
1st: Mattia Drudi 2nd: Sennan Fielding 3rd: Brandon Maisano
Race 2
Report: Drudi takes second straight win at Monza
1st: Mattia Drudi 2nd: Sennan Fielding 3rd: Lance Stroll
Race 3
Report: Drudi completes historic hat-trick at Monza
1st: Mattia Drudi 2nd: Brandon Maisano 3rd: Joao Vieira
Championship standings
1 Lance Stroll 331 pts
2 Mattia Drudi 194 pts
3 Andrea Russo 180 pts
4 Alain Valente 159 pts
5 Leonardo Pulcini 154 pts
6 Joao Vieira 88 pts
Next round: Imola (12 October)

F4 Sudamericana: Baptista and Camarotta share wins at double-header

Four F4 Sudamericana races were held at Mercedes in Uruguay, with Bruno Baptista and Francisco Camarotta taking two wins each. Winning the first two races and finishing second in the latter two, Baptista’s strong weekend moved him 54 points clear in the drivers’ standings of rival Felipe Ortiz.

Ortiz took a second, fourth and third from the first three races but was then disqualified from the final race after not serving a drive-through penalty.

Prior to his first two wins, Camarotta was fourth in race one and finished a close second to Baptista in race two before being demoted to third for causing contact. Debutant Agustin Lima made the podium in third and second in the opening two races, while it was Adrian Chiribao who was third in race four.

F4 Sudamericana Round 5/7 ? Mercedes, Uruguay
Race 1
1st: Bruno Baptista 2nd: Felipe Ortiz 3rd: Agustin Lima
Race 2
1st: Bruno Baptista 2nd: Agustin Lima 3rd: Francisco Camarotta
Race 3
1st: Francisco Camarotta 2nd: Bruno Baptista 3rd: Felipe Ortiz
Race 4
1st: Francisco Camarotta 2nd: Bruno Baptista 3rd: Adrian Chiribao
Championship standings
1 Bruno Baptista 221 pts
2 Felipe Ortiz 167 pts
3 Francisco Camarotta 108 pts
4 Nicolas Muraglia 87 pts
5 Juan Manuel Casella 83 pts
6 Diego Muraglia 65 pts
Next round: To be confirmed (9 November)

Star Driver: Mattia Drudi

F&M-entered Drudi put an impressive end to Prema’s dominance in Italian F4 at the marquee round at Monza, coming from behind to win all three races and proving there are drivers to watch out for in the series other than just Lance Stroll.

Mattia Drudi

Photo: ACI Sport