It was quite an eventful day on Saturday at Le Castellet where Formula Renault 2.0 drivers battled for the first win after summer break. Morning qualification saw Sacha Fenestraz (Josef Kaufmann Race) setting the fastest time overall – 2:04.570. Robert Shwartzman (R-ace GP) once again dominated his own group to qualify for the front row. Max Defourny (R-ace GP) and Charles Milesi (R-ace GP) took the second row for the French team.

Fenestraz made a good start and successfully defended his position against the attacks of Shwartzman. Defourny took advantage of the battle in front and overtook his Russian teammate for P2 but a few laps later the SMP Racing driver was able to recover.

Fenestraz was a couple of seconds ahead at that moment but Shwartzman and Defourny were able to close the gap. The Russian driver pressurized the Frenchman until safety car came out in the end of the race following the accident involving Julia Pankiewicz (Mark Burdett Motorsport) and Najiy Razak (Fortec Motorsports).

The marshals were able to clean up the track so the race was restarted with only 1 lap left to settle the scores.

Fenestraz closed the door before the chicane but was slow enough on the entry to let Shwartzman attack on the inside of the second part. The two drivers made a contact which sent the Frenchman in the air landing on his car’s roof. Luckily, the championship leader remained unharmed and will be on start tomorrow once again.

As for Shwartzman, he crossed the line first and heard his national anthem on the podium but was penalized later on to lose all the championship points he gained.

Therefore, Max Defourny inherited the win from his teammate leading Yifei Ye (Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Will Palmer (R-ace GP) into the top 3.

Thanks to his 15 points for P3 Palmer advances to the second position in the rankings. Defourny also gained a position – he is now fourth ahead of Gabriel Aubry (Tech 1 Racing).

The battle continues on Sunday when Shwartzman starts from pole and Fenestraz lines up beside him.

QUALIFYING | RACE

Max Defourny (R-ace GP): “It was a very eventful race! Following a good start, everything was fine in the opening laps and I pressured Sacha before making a small mistake at turn one. Robert took advantage and then I tried to stay close while also managing the tyre temperatures. I let up a little before coming back to attack Robert at T11, but the safety car came out and then unfortunately there was the accident between Sacha and Robert.”

Yifei Ye (Josef Kaufmann Racing): “After my first podium at the Nürburgring, I kept the momentum going at the Red Bull Ring. Sadly, I made too many mistakes in qualifying there. Nevertheless my pace was still there and it showed this morning in qualifying. I started fifth and I picked up a position on the first lap. The leading trio was very fast, but I managed to stay close. The end of the race was strange. It is good to finish on the podium, but it is sad to see my team mate Sacha end his race upside down after he had led from start to nearly the finish.”

Robert Shwartzman (R-ace GP): “I made a mistake at the start and preferred to let Max pass me because I had no chance to regain my position. I was sliding a lot on the first three laps, but was able to pick up the speed when the tyres kicked in. After some fine moves, I overtook Max before catching up to Sacha just until the final duel. Everything was fine, he slowed at the entry to the chicane and I was a bit faster, I looked to the inside. I was on the curb and there was nothing I could do and we made contact. I absolutely did not want it to finish the way it did and I am sorry for that.”

*Results subject to confirmation following technical and sporting verifications.

Race 1 replay:

Interviews from: Renault Sport