Sacha Fenestraz finally secured his first Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Series victory of the season as he led from start to finish in race two around the streets of Monaco on Sunday.
The Josef Kaufmann Racing had finished on the podium four times in the opening seven races of the year but converted his first pole position of 2017 into the race lead on the opening lap, and was untroubled until the chequered flag.
The race ended behind the safety car when Thomas Neubauer crashed his Tech 1 Racing machine at St Devote, with the Frenchman crawling up the hill before stopping in a dangerous position, with Fenestraz having extended his lead to more than three seconds by that time.
Robert Shwartzman capitalised on an early mistake at the exit of the Swimming Pool complex by team-mate Will Palmer to secure second place for R-ace GP, with the championship leader and race one winner lucky to avoid the barriers as he jumped over the kerbs.
Max Defourny made it a trio of R-ace GP drivers in second, third and fourth after making a superb pass on Daniel Ticktum at Portier, with the Arden Motorsport driver showing good awareness as the Belgian made his move to give just enough space to avoid an incident.
Alex Peroni put pressure on Ticktum in the closing laps but the Fortec Motorsports driver was denied the opportunity to attempt a pass by the safety car, while Gabriel Aubry was seventh for Tech 1 Racing ahead of Richard Verschoor of MP Motorsport, with Aleksandr Vartanyan and Aleksey Korneev completing the points finishers.
As well as Neubauer, there were incidents for AVF by Adrian Vallés duo Henrique Chaves and Gregorie Saucy, and for MP Motorsport’s Jarno Opmeer, while Frank Bird also retired early after a clash at the hairpin, with the British racer showing signs of pain in his back at the side of the track.
The top three pick up their trophies after race two in Monaco – Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd
Monaco Race 2 Result
[table id=2038 /]
