Photo: Eurocup-3
MP Motorsport pair Owen Tangavelou and Bruno del Pino were the winners in Eurocup-3’s second round at the Red Bull Ring.
Pre-event testing took place on Thursday, then there were two free practice sessions on Friday.
Javier Sagrera set a 1m27.241s to pip Campos Racing’s Christian Ho to top spot by 0.03 seconds in FP1, with Sagrera’s MP team-mates Emmo Fittipaldi and Tangavelou 0.108s and 0.405s behind in third and fourth. Sainteloc Racing’s Jose Garfias was 0.471s off the pace in fifth, with del Pino and Campos’s Valentin Kluss the only other drivers in the 26-car field within a second of Sagrera.
Ho lowered the pace to 1m26.764s in FP2, leading Fittipaldi by 0.3s. Sagrea was 0.609s behind in third, with 0.089s covering him, team-mate Dario Cabanelas, Tangavelou and Garfias.
The first qualifying session on Saturday morning was even faster, and more closely contested. Tangavelou set a 1m26.464s to claim race one pole by 0.005s over Ho, with Fittipaldi trailing by 0.362s in third and del Pino 0.409s behind in fourth. The top 13 were covered by 0.996s.
Q2 followed in the afternoon and Ho was fastest with a 1m26.425s. Tangavelou and del Pino were 0.17s and 0.474s behind in second and third.
The two races took place on Sunday, and Tangavelou took a lights-to-flag win in the first. Ho and Fittipaldi made slow starts, with Palou Motorsport’s Kirill Smal squeezing between them to get into second while del Pino went to the other side of Ho to take third. He went side-by-side with Smal at turn two and was ahead of him before turn three, where Fittipaldi also got back past the Russian.
Ho tried gaining back a spot at turn four but instead dropped to eighth behind Noah Lisle, Alexander Abkhazava and Jose Garfias, and then lost out to Dario Cabanelas on lap two while Sagrera passed Kluss for 10th.
The positions in the top 10 were then set, with the next change after that being Ho going off on lap nine and then pitting. That promoted Theodor Jensen to 10th, but with he and Cabanelas picking up track limits penalties it meant Sagrera finished eighth ahead of Michael Shin and Cabanelas.
Ho started slowly again in race two, but swept to the inside to hold the lead until he locked up at turn three and del Pino got past. While del Pino managed the pace up front to win, Ho picked up a five-second track limits penalty so finished fourth behind Sagrera and Tangavelou.
Smal initially held fifth, but was overtaken by Fittipaldi on lap nine, Kluss on lap 11, Cabanelas on lap 12 and then by Shin on lap 14 before he stopped at the side of the track with a delaminated front-left tyre.
Cabenelas picked up 15s in track limits penalties, dropping him from seventh to 12th behind Shin, Isaac Barashi, Daniel Nogales, Lisle and Jensen.
Results round-up
Race 1 (22 laps)
1 Owen Tangavelou MP Motorsport 32m24.014s
2 Bruno del Pino MP Motorsport +2.103s
3 Emmo Fittipaldi MP Motorport +5.144s
4 Kirill Smal Palou Motorsport +6.843s
5 Noah Lisle Campos Racing +10.917s
6 Alexander Abkhazava Sainteloc Racing +11.759s
7 Jose Garfias Sainteloc Racing +12.272s
8 Javier Sagrera MP Motorsport +14.804s
9 Michael Shin Campos Racing +24.728s
10 Dario Cabanelas MP Motorsport +32.213s
Pole: Tangavelou, 1m26.464s
Fastest lap: Tangavelou, 1m27.822s
Race 2 (18 laps)
1 del Pino 26m31.757s
2 Sagrera +4.073s
3 Tangavelou +5.052s
4 Christian Ho Campos Racing +7.565s
5 Fittipaldi +8.514s
6 Valentin Kluss Campos Racing +14.911s
7 Shin +19.572s
8 Isaac Barashi Global Racing Service +21.796s
9 Daniel Nogales Drivex School +22.155s
10 Lisle +22.519s
P: Ho, 1m26.425s
FL: Cabanelas, 1m27.631s
Championship standings
1 Sagrra 48 2 del Pino 43 3 Tangavelou 43 4 Fittipaldi 37 5 Smal 27 6 Abkhazava 26 7 Garfias 14 8 Ho 14 9 Kluss 14 10 Lisle 11