Renault Sport Trophy Steijn Schothorst on top in Budapest tests 12.06.2015: RENAULT SPORT TROPHY Elite category leader, Steijn Schothorst (Equipe Verschuur) marked his turf in posting best

RENAULT SPORT TROPHY


 
Elite category leader, Steijn Schothorst (Equipe Verschuur) marked his turf in posting best time of the Renault Sport Trophy collective tests at the Hungaroring.


The Dutch driver set the benchmark with a lap of 1:41.810 to lead from Alan Hellmeister (Oregon Team) and Federico Leo (V8 Racing).


His countryman Max Braams (V8 Racing) was quickest in “Prestige” ahead of Dario Capitanio (Oregon Team) and Richard Gonda (ART Junior Team). In the morning session, Steijn Schothorst and Richard Gonda led the way in their respective categories.



Steijn Schothorst straight away

Toni Forné (ART Junior Team) swapped best time with Federico Leo before Richard Gonda took over. Then, Luciano Bacheta (Oregon Team) moved to the top, but the Slovak answered. Steijn Schothorst was next at the sharp end of the order and answered Luciano Bacheta by improving on several occasions.


 His lap of 1:42.904 was good enough to see him from the Englishman and Andrea Pizzitola (ART Junior Team). Fourth overall and first in Prestige, Richard Gonda led from Dario Capitanio and Niccolò Nalio (Oregon Team) in the category.



Schothorst makes sure for Verschuur

In the afternoon, Vittorio Ghirelli (Zele Racing) was the first to put in a flying lap before Andrea Pizzitola went quicker. The French driver was then bumped off the top spot by Max Braams (V8 Racing), who then had Steijn Schothorst do it to him.


 After improving lap after lap, the Dutchman relegated his closest rival to nearly a half-second. With a lap of 1:41.810, he led the session from Alan Hellmeister and Federico Leo. Seventh overall, Max Braams led the Prestige category ahead of Dario Capitanio and Richard Gonda.



Quotes


Steijn Schothorst: “It’s starting off perfectly well. The team did a great job; we are consistently up front, quick on both used and new tyres. There is still room for improvement, and we’re heading in the right direction. Tomorrow, the tests will be over and there will be points up for grabs in Elite. It will be another day and the others will work hard overnight. We must keep doing what we’re doing to stay up front.”


Alan Hellmeister: “The morning session went well. We were regularly in the top five. We improve each time we are on the track and Adalberto is making enormous progress, maybe even more than me! He has considerably reduced the gap compared to Spa and that is good going in to the Endurance race.


This afternoon, our changes paid off with the new tyres. We are aiming for the first two rows, but we are worried about an opposite situation from that of Spa. We were better in the race than in qualifying and it seems that here it might be the opposite.”


Max Braams: “It is really hot both in the inside and the outside of the car! This morning went nicely and our many changes cost us track time in the afternoon. In the end, we can be satisfied with the work we did ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying.”



- Blanca de Foronda - photo Renault