R-ace GP took a double victory at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza as the second round of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup took place in Italy last weekend.
Logan Sargeant took his first NEC victory in race one on Saturday, coming on top of a six-car battle for honours, while team-mate Victor Martins took his maiden win in the series on Sunday.
Race One
Charles Milesi started from pole position but found team-mate Sargeant quickly up on his tail after he passed JD Motorsport’s Lorenzo Colombo around the outside of the first chicane.
Momentum was on Sargeant’s side, with the American making a bold move on the Frenchman into the Variante Del Rettifilo on lap two, after which he was not headed. The two were lucky not to hit each other, particularly as Sargeant locked up his brakes heading into the turn.
Milesi would lock up at the same turn to fall behind Max Fewtrell and Colombo, while Frank Bird and Martins also found themselves involved in the battle for the podium positions as Sargeant made a breakaway at the front.
Renault Sport Academy race Fewtrell found his way passed Colombo for second, while a late race charge from Martins ensured he took the final spot on the podium ahead of Bird, took fifth for Tech 1 Racing ahead of Milesi, with his late move denying R-ace GP a lock out of the top four places.
Colombo ended up at the back of the six-car front pack despite being in contention for the race lead early in proceedings.
Thomas Neubauer took seventh for Tech 1 Racing ahead of the first full-time NEC entry of Phil Hill, with the Anders Motorsport coming out on top of R-ace GP’s Gabriel Gandulia and the second Anders Motorsport machine of Doureid Ghattas, who completed the top ten.
All twelve drivers saw the chequered flag, with Sharon Scolari of ScoRace Team and debutant Zichao Wang of Cram Motorsport completing the field.
Race Two
After his race one podium, Martins started from pole position for Sunday’s second race, with the Frenchman being able to maintain the lead and break away as the two drivers chasing him, Bird and Fewtrell collided under breaking at the Variante Della Roggia.
The top three had broken away but the clash with the incident between Bird and Fewtrell saw the former hit the pit lane for repairs and the latter retire.
Martins was free from the chasing pack thereafter, and ended 4.128 seconds clear, although the battle for second was far from straightforward.
Milesi took second despite almost constant pressure from race one winner Sargeant and from Colombo, and it was only a mistake from the American at the Della Roggia chicane that allowed the Italian to claim the final spot on the podium.
Sargeant was forced to defend from Neubauer in the final laps to claim fourth, while Hill once again came out on top of the full-timer NEC racers for Anders Motorsport in sixth, with team-mate Ghattas eighth behind Gandulia.
Despite his pit stop, Bird was ninth ahead of Wang, while Scolari was eleventh despite suffering a spin at the Variante Ascari.
