Two dry qualification sessions gave way to pole positions for Jeroen Slaghekke in the first race (1:37.659) and Shahaan Engineer (1:36.611). The first race started at 10.10 on Saturday morning the 22nd of September. After the lights switched off Jeroen Slaghekke led the field through the first corner, but had to let the faster Josh Hill by before the first passing of the start/finish line.

After 6 laps, two cars had stranded alongside the track and the race control deployed the safety car to clean the track. It meant the end of the gap that Hill had built during the previous round, giving Slaghekke another chance to attack. Meanwhile, third placed Steijn Schothorst was confronted with a flat tyre resulting in his retire as the safety car came in. Jake Dennis profited and happily took the third place, securing important points.

The second race was quite an eventful edition of the Northern European Cup. From an eighth position, Steijn Schothorst drove his way to the frontrunners. In the penultimate lap, he also managed to pass Shahaan Engineer who had been leading until that moment. The young Fortec Driver finished in second place, whilst Jake Dennis took another third position. As both his major opponents King and Hill finished outside of the top ten, Dennis had good chances of having the title in his pocket on Sunday.

The grid of race number three was composed of the first race result, reversing the first six drivers on the grid. It brought another pole to Shahaan Engineer, putting Jordan King in second place just in front of Meindert van Buuren Jr and Jake Dennis. Right at the start, Jordan King showed he was going for his first win and passed Engineer in the first lap.

The race was in its second half when a severe crash of Steijn Schothorst, Tanart Sathienthirakul, and Roman Beregech occured. The both Manor MP Motorsport drivers crashed and Schothorst was launched into the air, seriously damaging the back side of his car. Beregech met the parts of Schothorst’s car and suffered some heavy impact when he crashed into the guardrail. All drivers were taken to the medical center, but seem to have no serious injuries at this moment. The safety car caught the rest of the field. Because there were so many parts on track, the race was stopped after 75% with a red flag, and not restarted. Jordan King took his first win, Engineer scored another second place and Meindert van Buuren sealed a strong weekend with a first podium place in the NEC.

With a 55-point lead, and 60 points to divide at Spa-Francorchamps, Jordan King needs a miracle to pass Jake Dennis. However, nothing is impossible with the unpredictable weather conditions of the Belgian Ardennes. The next and final round of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup takes place at the Formula One track of Spa – Francorchamps on the 12 – 14th of October 2012.

 

Result Race 1:

1. Josh Hill in 26 minutes 28.817 seconds, 13 laps, 2. Jeroen Slaghekke + 0.428, 3. Jake Dennis + 6.501, 4. Meindert van Buuren Jr + 8.119, 5. Jordan King + 8.397, 6. Shahaan Engineer +9.137, 7. Gabriel Casagrande +10.909, 8. Leopold Ringbom +11.332, 9. Kevin Kleveros +11.617, 10. Dan de Zille + 12.044

 

Result Race 2:

1. Steijn Schothorst in 26 minutes 2.892 seconds, 14 laps, 2. Shahaan Engineer + 0.602, 3. Jake Dennis + 2.716, 4. Meindert van Buuren Jr + 5.045, 5. Kevin Kleveros +10.516, 6. Ignazio d’Agosto +16.450, 7. Yu Kanamaru +17.694, 8. Dennis Wusthoff +21.051, 9. Victor Bouveng + 22.572, 10. Leopold Ringbom + 23.872

 

Result Race 3:

1. Jordan King in 19 minutes and 13.743 seconds, 9 laps, 2. Shahaan Engineer +0.841, 3. Meindert van Buuren Jr +1.412, 4. Jeroen Slaghekke +2.099, 5. Jake Dennis +3.056, 6. Josh Hill +3.641, 7. Kevin Kleveros +4.367, 8. Dennis Wusthoff +5.012, 9. Dan de Zille +6.136, 10. Sandy Stuvik +7.219

 

Standings in the Northern European Cup:

1. Dennis with 362 points, 2. King 307, 3. Hill 273, 4. Slaghekke 233, 5. Schothorst 190, 6. Kleveros 181, 7. Engineer 178, 8. Vandoorne 176, 9. Casagrande 162, 10. Nyck de Vries 146.