Race Report

FORMULA RENAULT 2.0
2013 EUROCUP, Rounds 3/4

Circuit: Spa-Francorchamps (B), Length 7,003 km, 1^st/2^nd June 2013
www.spa-francorchamps.be

JENZER MOTORSPORT 2013:
Kevin Joerg (CH), Marcos Siebert (ARG) and Levin Amweg (CH)

Siebert claims first point at Spa

The second of seven World Series by Renault Weekends of the 2013 season was held on the legendary GP Circuit at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. As ever, the WSR weekend offered plenty of attractions both on and off the track and plenty of spectators turned up to enjoy it all.
Free tickets for future WSR events can be obtained from: www.worldseriesbyrenault.fr

Qualifying for Race One

Saturday, 01/06/13, 09.00 – 09.35, Weather: Fog, 8°C

According to the rules there is one qualifying session of 15 minutes for each race, with the participants split into two groups, running in consecutive sessions. A total of 39 drivers turned up to accept the challenge.

Free practice on Friday was run on a wet track, and the track was still wet on Saturday morning. In addition thick fog again persisted and the start of the session was delayed by two and a half hours as a result.
Kevin and Levin were in the first group and, when the session finally, started they both found that conditions were very, very difficult. Kevin set the third fastest time in the third timing sector, but because he had a slight off on his best lap, he missed out on a top ten place and ended up 13^th in his group. Levin improved from lap to lap initially but was unable to maintain the momentum and finished the session in 15^th place.
Marcos ran in the second group. Conditions hadn’t improved much but Marcos tried his best and managed to set a time that put him 14^th in his group.

Formula Renault EUROCUP

Race One (25 minutes + 1 lap)

Saturday, 01/06/13, 12.50, Weather: Cloudy, 10

The race started more than an hour later than planned and even then it was still slightly foggy. At least the track was now entirely dry. When they finally got under way, Spa-Francorchamps once again proved to be one of the most interesting circuits on the calendar. The race was packed with exciting overtaking manoeuvres, and positions at the front as well in the midfield changed repeatedly. Kevin started 26^th, Levin 30^th and Marcos 31^st. Levin made a brilliant start and at the end of the first lap was already just behind Kevin, who had also made a good getaway. Marcos managed to make up a few positions right after the start as well. Levin and Kevin fought each other for their position, changing places more than once, but then Levin managed to make up two more places on the same lap, passing Ramsay and Malja for 18^th. Kevin was 21^st and was now fighting with Sasahara and Bonifacio, the latter setting the fastest lap of the race and managing to pass Kevin, dropping him a place to 19^th. He managed to stay ahead of Sasahara though. Levin was still moving forward and was now 15^th ahead of Kanamaru. It got better; in the closing stages Albon and Ghiotto dropped back, and that meant Levin was 13^th when he took the chequered flag! Marcos performed well too and steadily climbed the order, which meant that Kevin and Marcos both crossed the finish line in the top twenty in 18^th and 20^th respectively. This was one of the most exciting races of the season so far, and all our drivers shone, racing well and making up places. We now hope for some luck for tomorrow’s qualifying.

Qualifying for Race Two

Sunday, 02/06/13, 09.00 – 09.35, Weather: Cloudy, 7°C

This morning we could even see some sunshine and the track was dry despite the cold. The qualifying session started on time.
Marcos managed to improve quickly this time on this very long track and despite the very short session was 9^th in his group, his best result so far.
Kevin and Levin started in the second group. Kevin managed to secure 10^th place, but Levin, despite getting off to a good start, got stuck in traffic, meaning he finished 16^th.

Formula Renault 2.0 EUROCUP

Race 2 (25 Minutes + 1 Lap)

Sunday, 02/05/13, 13.20, Weather: Sunny, 13°C

The second race of the weekend started under blue skies but it didn’t stop several big accidents occurring on the first lap. The race was immediately red flagged and stopped and it was some time before the mess was cleared up. Our drivers had more or less held positions, Marcos in 17^th, Kevin 18^th and Levin 30^th. The big field was finally led back out to race behind the Safety Car but as soon as the race went live positions changed throughout the field, and there was lot of movement. Marcos made no mistake and manoeuvred his way slowly further forward, climbing to 16^th. Kevin had to avoid an accident after the restart and fell back to 21^st while Levin fought hard for positions back in 30^th. Shortly before the end of the race the Safety Car had to be deployed again, but the race restarted for the last three laps. Some of the men in front misjudged the restart and made mistakes but Marcos was not among them. He drove well and was already 11^th after a fierce drive. Vaxiviere was not happy with that and overtook him, but Marcos didn’t give up and on the very last lap got back his excellent 11^th place. Kevin crossed the finishing line 21^st after an exciting race where he fought a number of battles. Levin flat spotted his tyres in qualifying and had to run using two tyres from the first race, a definite disadvantage, which meant he didn’t manage any great improvements and had to be satisfied with 30^th this time.
Fuoco entered as a wild card driver in this event and therefore could not score points so that meant that the last point in this race went to Marcos. That was his (and the team’s) first point in the Eurocup! We are now looking forward to the next races!

The next race weekend of the EUROCUP will be in three weeks‘ time, starting on 21^st June at the Moscow-Raceway in Russia.

Championship Standings

Formula Renault 2.0 EUROCUP after 4 out of 14 Races:

1^st Pierre Gasly (F), 53 points; 2^nd Matthieu Vaxiviere (F), 51 points; 3^rd Jake Dennis (GBR), 42 points; 4^th Oliver Rowland (GB), 41 points; 5^th Oscar Tunjo (COL), 41 points; 6^th Esteban Ocon (F), 40 points; 17^th Marcos Siebert (ARG), 1 point

2013 AGENDA

2013 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup

For more information:

• www.italiaracing.net
• www.worldseriesbyrenault.fr