Gonda and Schothorst win Renault Sport Trophy at Hungaroring 14.06.2015: RENAULT SPORT TROPHY The World Series by Renault meeting in Hungary concluded with wins

RENAULT SPORT TROPHY



The World Series by Renault meeting in Hungary concluded with wins for Richard Gonda (ART Junior Team) and Steijn Schothorst (Equipe Verschuur) in the Renault Sport Trophy.


In the morning, Richard Gonda (ART Junior Team) dominated the Prestige Sprint race against Dario Capitanio (Oregon Team) and Diederik Sijthoff (V8 Racing). The podium result sees him maintain the lead in the category’s general classification. In the afternoon, Elite Sprint laurels went to Steijn Schothorst, who ran his point tally to 71 out of a possible 75.


The Dutchman was followed to the line by 2013 Formula Renault 1.6 NEC Junior champion, Roy Geerts (V8 Racing) and Vittorio Ghirelli (Zele Racing) at the end of a race where all six teams entered placed one of their Renault Sport R.S. 01s in the top six.



Gonda dominates, Sijthoff resists

Starting from pole, Richard Gonda held on to his advantage from Dario Capitanio at the start before pulling away. Diederik Sijthoff was into third place, while Stefano Costantini (Oregon Team) dropped from third to seventh place, behind Max Braams (V8 Racing), Toni Forné (ART Junior Team) and David Cebrian (Monlau Competicion).


The latter dropped to eighth place when he went wide and off the track surface on lap five, which let Niccolò Nalio light up the race with consecutive passes on Stefano Costantini, Toni Forné and Max Braams before having to retire.


Richard Gonda won the race with a 25-second margin of victory from Dario Capitanio. Diederik Sijthoff held off Max Braams for third place. In the final laps, Stefano Costantini and David Cebriani got the better of Toni Forné, who ended up seventh.


Antonio Coimbra (Equipe Verschuur), Philippe Bourgois (Zele Racing) and Jeroen Schothorst (Equipe Verschuur) completed the list of point scorers.



Schothorst keeps the momentum going

On Saturday, Steijn Schothorst won the pole for the Elite Sprint race ahead of Vittorio Ghirelli and Wolfgang Reip (Monlau Competicion). While Vittorio Ghirelli moved ahead on the pit-straight, Steijn Schothorst had the lead going into turn one ahead of, fourth on the grid, Roy Geerts. Third, the Italian was soon under threat from Wolfgang Reip and Andrea Pizzitola.


Steijn Schothorst picked up the pace and won ahead of Roy Geerts and Vittorio Ghirelli, who held off Wolfgang Reip and Andrea Pizzitola right up to the finish line. David Fumanelli (Oregon Team) was sixth after overtaking Luciano Bacheta (Oregon Team) and Nicky Pastorelli (V8 Racing) on lap nine.


The ladder was finally passed by Federico Leo (V8 Racing), while Indy Dontje (ART Junior Team) completed the top six after the incident between Alan Hellmeister (Oregon Team) and Bas Schothorst (Zele Racing).



Quotes


Richard Gonda: “First of all, I want to say just how happy I am to be in Hungary, with a lot of my fellow Slovaks who came to lend me support. The start was very important, because if Dario had passed me, it would have been complicated to get back ahead.


I was a little lucky at the first corner. I then attacked without making a mistake and I didn’t know what to expect because we made a lot of changes to the car, but it seems that we’ve taken a huge step forward!”


Steijn Schothorst: “The first time I came to a World Series by Renault meeting was in 2008 at Le Mans. My dad raced, I was too young to do the same, but I fell in love with racing and the atmosphere of this event! I grew up in it and then I had the chance to race in Formula Renault 2.0 and now in the Renault Sport Trophy


. Everything is going very well so far here and we are leading the championship. I’m really happy for the team and myself. They have done a wonderful job with the car and I just have to finish it!”



Provisional Endurance general classification* * : 1. Fumanelli/Capitanio – 43 points, 2. Reip – 37, 3. Bacheta/Nalio – 30, 4. Pizzitola/Gonda – 30, 5. Cebrian – 25…


Provisional Elite general classification*: 1. S. Schothorst – 75 points, 2. W. Reip – 45, 3. A. Pizzitola – 43, 4. V. Ghirelli – 35, 5. R. Geerts – 24…


Provisional Prestige general classification * : 1. D. Sijthoff – 52 points, 2. R. Gonda – 50, 3. D. Capitanio – 33, 4. M. Braams – 32, 5. T. Forné – 30…



*Subject to confirmation of the results following the technical and sporting verifications



- Blanca de Foronda - photos Renault