WSR: Kevin Magnussen becomes fifth different winner

The son of ex-Formula One driver Jan Magnussen became the fifth different winner

After claiming pole position for both of the weekend’s races, Kevin Magnussen made his advantage count and secured his first victory in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series at Spa-Francorchamps.
 The son of ex-Formula One driver Jan Magnussen became the fifth different winner in five races so far this season. Nick Yelloly (Comtec Racing) and Robin Frijns (Fortec Motorsports), meanwhile, continued their strong starts to the season by finishing on the podium.

In both the rain and dry, Kevin Magnussen proved to be the fastest man in qualifying this weekend. The Dane, a member of the McLaren Development Programme, claimed his second consecutive pole position on a completely soaked track, ahead of Robin Frijns. Sam Bird (ISR) was initially third, but was relegated to the back of the grid due to his car not having enough fuel for the post-qualifying technical tests.

As a result of the poor visibility and track conditions, the race started behind the safety car. When the green flag came out, Kevin Magnussen held on to his advantage from pole position and led the race ahead of Robin Frijns, Jules Bianchi (Tech 1 Racing), Lewis Williamson (Arden Caterham) and Nick Yelloly. The latter then took fourth place from Williamson, a member of Red Bull Junior Team.

Sam Bird and Arthur Pic (Dams) were the first to make their compulsory visit to the pits to change tyres. The race leaders waited longer to make their stops. Kevin Magnussen held an advantage of just over five seconds over Robin Frijns when he made his stop. However, Magnussen’s left-rear wheel proved problematic and he subsequently lost the lead. The Dane exited the pits behind Robin Frijns, but then regained the lead after launching an unstoppable charge at the braking zone at Les Combes.

The safety car made another appearance following a spectacular collision between Richie Stanaway (Lotus) and Carlos Huertas (Fortec Motorsports). The race was then interrupted by the red flag before restarting behind the safety car. Jules Bianchi, for his part, became stuck on the grid at the restart and fell to the bottom of the leaderboard.

At this stage Kevin Magnussen found himself in fifth, but he was effectively the race leader as Lewis Williamson, Jake Rosenzweig (ISR), Daniil Move (P1 Motorsport) and Kevin Korjus (Tech 1 Racing) still needed to make their pitstops. Robin Frijns, meanwhile, was overtaken by Nick Yelloly.

After resisting the challenge of Nick Yelloly, Kevin Magnussen held on to the lead all the way to the chequered flag. Like his compatriot Marco Sorensen (Lotus) yesterday, Magnussen recorded his first victory in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. It was a job well done for Nick Yelloly and Robin Frijns, who finished on the podium to move up to third and second respectively in the overall standings. Sam Bird, who came from the back of the grid to finish fifth, retains his lead in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.

What they said:

Kevin Magnussen: “I’ve had ups and downs this weekend. It started well with my first pole, but in the first race we didn’t have the level of performance that we’d expected. This race was incredibly difficult. With the drivers not having made their stops, I didn’t really know if I was in the lead. The only negative was that we had a bad pitstop. Fortunately I managed to regain the advantage over Robin.”

Nick Yelloly: “What a race! We really couldn’t see anything. I’m happy to finish second, given our performance level in qualifying. We’re moving up in the championship, which is the most important thing.”

Robin Frijns: “It hasn’t all gone perfectly this weekend. Yesterday was not a good day, but we were better today. All I tried to do was to go all the way. It paid off and I’ve finished third, which puts me back on the championship trail… even though, and I repeat, I’m not thinking about it. Well, not much…”

FR 3.5 Series: Race 2

source: worldseriesbyrenault.fr

Pic’s strong pace goes unrewarded at Spa

Arthur Pic showed plenty of pace but ultimately left Spa-Francorchamps empty handed following a frustrating Formula Renault 3.5 round in Belgium this weekend.

After his battling drive around Monaco’s city streets seven days ago, the young Frenchman had to display similar combative qualities in the Ardennes after qualifying 10th for Saturday’s race.

Pic wasted little time moving up the order by claiming two positions on the opening lap alone before shadowing and then passing Jake Rosenzweig to claim seventh four laps later.

Such was his pace that it took the DAMS driver just a single lap to erode Carlos Huertas’ 1.5secs advantage and take sixth away from the Colombian.

Next up, but some 4.4secs clear, was Jules Bianchi who saw his gap slashed thanks to the intervention of a safety car. And when racing resumed again on lap 14, it wasn’t long before positions second to sixth were covered by little over one second.

As cars jostled for position, Pic was able to snatch fifth away from Robin Frijns and, with just three laps remaining, had homed in on Kevin Magnussen. But as the pair headed for La Source nose-to-tail, the Dane moved across into Pic’s path, puncturing his left-rear tyre and sending both onto the run-off area.

That saw Pic tumble down the order from a probable hard-fought fourth place finish to 15th overall and an extremely frustrating end to what had been a stunning comeback drive.

While Saturday had remained dry, Sunday brought with it the sort of soaking wet conditions that Spa is famed for.

A problem with his car’s all-important Drag Reduction System (DRS), as well as set-up issues, hampered Pic’s pace during a red-flag interrupted qualifying session that saw him set the 18th fastest time.

So poor were conditions by the afternoon that the race began behind the safety car. When it was finally withdrawn, Pic was amongst the first to make his mandatory pit-stop in the hope of picking up places later in the race. It would have been the correct call but just three laps later, in treacherous conditions, he was powerless to prevent the car from spinning into retirement.

Arthur Pic: “Friday’s free practice sessions went quite well and I had the pace to run in the top five. But we then went the wrong way on set-up for qualifying which is why, in the end, I was happy to line-up in P10. Fortunately I made a good start and gained a few places. The car felt good and I was amongst the fastest out there before the safety car period. It was obviously disappointing therefore to have the incident with Magnussen. I wasn’t trying to overtake him and maintained the racing line when he closed the door. Let’s just say we had a misunderstanding.

“Sunday’s heavy rain meant we had to find a new set-up during qualifying. A problem with the DRS made the situation worse, which explained our low grid position. Because of that we opted for an early pit-stop in the race. It would have been the right strategic call because I re-joined just behind Sam Bird who went on to finish fifth. The car still wasn’t quite right in those tricky conditions and, unfortunately, three laps later I span at Turn 9. It was my fault.

“Before the next round I will be at DAMS’ factory in Le Mans where we will have a proper debrief and try to understand our lack of performance in the rain. We have great dry pace but we are not as competitive as we should be in the wet. It is better to be prepared should that happen again this year.”

Pic will be back behind the wheel when Formula Renault 3.5 continues at the Nurburgring in Germany on June 30-July 1

source: ArthurPic.com

A grey day for DAMS!

For the second consecutive weekend DAMS met with little success in Formula Renault 3.5 Series. The French squad left Belgium with 15th place in race 1 as its only result. However, despite this unproductive weekend in typically grey Spa weather, DAMS has every reason to see the return of sunny days in the not too distant future.

The only ray of sunshine was Arthur Pic’s performance in the first race. The DAMS team leader made a very good start after setting the tenth-quickest time in practice. He fought his way up to fifth place and caught Kevin Magnussen at La Source where the two cars collided. Although Arthur was able to restart it was the end of his hopes of a good result. His rotten weekend continued as his DRS went on the blink in the second qualifying session and he had to start from 18th place on the grid: he retired in race 2.

Lucas Foresti didn’t have much luck either and retired in both heats. The Brazilian rookie wasn’t spared by circumstances, especially in the second race run in pouring rain.

Jean-Paul Driot, CEO: “First of all I’d like to congratulate the whole team that had a lot of work this weekend, which it did with its usual efficiency. Although we didn’t have much success we’ve got the speed as Arthur Pic showed in the first race. We’re competing in a very-high-quality championship, almost the same as F1, as proved by the fact that there have been five different winners in five races. By working as only we know how we can add our name to this list.”

Arthur Pic: “A very frustrating weekend. But I want to look on the bright side. Things got off to a good start in the first race and I was fighting my way back to the front until my collision. It’s a great pity as I was quick enough to finish in the first four. It proves that we’re where we should be in terms of pace. I’d also like to say thank you to the team who did a great job, and I hope I’ll reward them with a good result in the next round.”

Lucas Foresti: “I’m really very disappointed. First of all for the team that I’d like to thank for its work in preparing and repairing the cars. For myself too as I was never able to get into the right rhythm. I’m still learning and each race gives me more experience. I hope it’ll finish by paying off in the near future in more clement weather conditions.”

Next round: the Nürburgring, 30th June-1st July 2012

source: dams.fr