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| July 06, 2012 |
| Renault 2.0 Euro: Podium Finish for Tech 1 Racing at Nurburgring |
 | Paul-Loup Chatin provided Tech 1 Racing with its first Formula Renault 2.0 Euro podium finish of 2012 at Nurburgring
(Photo: Renault) |
GERMANY (July 5, 2012) - After a mixed weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, the Tech 1 Racing team reaped the fruits of its hard work with its first podium finish in the 2012 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup thanks to Paul-Loup Chatin. Simon and Sarah Abadie’s squad will have to continue their efforts to remain at the top end of the hierarchy and aim for victory on a permanent basis.
In addition to Chatin, Oscar Tunjo, Matthieu Vaxivière, and Roman Mavalanov, the team entered a fifth Formula Renault 2.0 for Brazilian Felipe Fraga for the third round of the Eurocup. A week before the Ring Tech 1 Racing went to Spa-Francorchamps for a round of the Alps and Tunjo scored a victory, his first in Formula Renault 2.0, while Chatin bagged two podium finishes. These results have given the Tech 1 Racing squad first place in the teams’ ratings, and Chatain is now lying second in the drivers’ championship.
In the Eurocup in Germany the drivers’ aim was to up their game. Chatin expressed this determination perfectly by setting the third-quickest time in his group in qualifying, his position at the flag in race one. Tunjo crossed the line in sixth place, but a twenty-five second penalty for a collision with another car dropped him back to 22nd. Fraga, who was tenth in his first race at this level, took advantage of his team-mate’s mishap to score his first point in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup.
On Sunday, the track was still wet at the start and some drivers opted for slicks, others for wets. Oscar Tunjo was the only one of the Tech 1 Racing drivers to start on sculpted tyres. “Oscar was on the seventh row and we tried this option, which didn’t pay off,” said Abadie, the Tech 1 Racing team manager.
The race got off to a good start for Tunjo as after four laps he had fought his way from fourteenth to fourth. But as the track began to dry out very quickly his rain tyres’ performance dropped off sharply and he had no choice but to let his rivals past. Chatin and Fraga pulled back places and saw the flag in fourth and eighth places respectively. Roman Mavalanov’s thirteenth position was his best result of the season as was Matthieu Vaxivière’s 14th spot.
“Paul-Loup’s podium is the positive aspect. The FFSA Equipe de France driver has finished six times out of six in the points, an excellent record of consistency,” summed up Abadie. “Overall we have to be quicker as it’s time to start winning races. We have the necessary resources and the drivers are quick, but there’s still room for a big step forward. And that starts with good qualifying performances, and before that all our drivers have to make better use of free practice so that they find the right setup more quickly.”
“Felipe Fraga on his first weekend in the Formula 2.0 Eurocup finished in the points in both races. It’s a great performance. Oscar Tunjo again showed his speed, Roman Mavalanov drove a solid race and Matthieu Vaxivière is making good progress, especially in his approach to the weekend’s racing. So we’ve got good reasons for optimism. It’s all going to fall into place!” |
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