Thirty five Formula Renault 2.0 set quite an impressive field during the Truck Grand Prix on the Czech circuit of Most. Next to the drivers registered for the entire season, there were many EUROCUP drivers who came to warm up after a long summer break. Among them Oliver Rowland, current leader of the European rankings, Andrea Pizzitola (ART Junior Team) and Steijn Schothorst (Josef Kaufmann Racing).
Rowland qualified for pole position in the first race of the weekend. On third place, NEC points leader Matt Parry seemed to have a great start. The first corner however works as a bottleneck and is known for the start crashes that often happen in Most. The first race at Most and the eleventh this season seemed to have a clean start until Fortec’s Matt Parry had a significantly slow exit from the chicane and was hit by teammate Beregech.
It turned out to be a very eventful first race with a total of six cars retired. The first win of Oliver Rowland in the 2013 NEC season brings him to a good number of points after his podiumplaces in the first round at Hockenheim. In Most he drove from lights to finish in the lead, without any serious threat from the competition. Lotus driver Oscar Tunjo drove to a second place, as teammate Gustav Malja secured third place on Saturday afternoon.
The second race of the popular stepping stone started on Sunday morning the 1st of September at 9.35 in the morning. Rowland started from pole again, Schothorst had the best start, but was on the wrong side of Rowland and passed by Jack Aitken. The absolute winner of the first corner was Esteban Ocon who took second place after starting sixth. Rowland drove his own race, not pressured by any opponents. The fast start of Matt Parry was judged as too fast by race control and awarded with a drive through penalty, throwing the Caterham Development driver back to a disappointing 30th place.
His most important competition for the title and teammate Jack Aitken performed very well and took a third place, taking away 20 points of Parry’s lead. Esteban Ocon (ART Junior Team) put his strong start into a good result and finished second.
The third race of the weekend started at 16.05 on Sunday afternoon. Because of the reversed grid, Andrea Pizzitola left from pole, accompanied by Steijn Schothorst on the first starting row. After the field was released and the 35 formula cars stormed for the first corner, Schothorst took the lead after a close fight with Pizzitola. Rowland had started from sixth position and knew how to drive to third place in the first lap. Schothorst drove a clean race, staying free of battles behind him. Alex Albon for KTR managed to finish second. Rowland took home his third podium of the weekend.
Matt Parry, who entered the weekend with a 121-point lead, experienced one weekend to forget. After being hit in the first race, receiving a drive through in the second, bad luck followed him all the way to the end of the weekend. Although he managed to make up 17 places after starting from 33rd place, a punctured tyre again brought him to a third zero point result this weekend. His lead has now been reduced to 75 points to Jack Aitken. With 30 points to divide each race and three races to go during the finals at Zandvoort, Aitken still has a theoretical chance of becoming 2013 champion.
The last and seventh round of the season will be held on the 12th and 13th of October at Circuit Park Zandvoort.
Result Race 1:
1. Rowland in 26 minutes and 26.373 seconds, 2. Tunjo +1.425, 3. Malja + 5.984, 4. Aitken +7.167, 5. Schothorst + 7.167, 6. Pizzitola + 9.321 7. Dalewski +13.498, 8. Albon + 14.006, 9. Owens +14.965, 10. Olsen +15.640
Result Race 2:
1. Rowland in 26 minutes 10.002 seconds, 2. Ocon + 4.899, 3. Aitken +8.472, 4. Schothorst + 12.006, 5. Tunjo + 12.689, 6. Olsen +13.033, 7. Malja +14.036, 8. Pizzitola +20.001, 9. Albon +21.353, 10. Sathienthirakul +24.500
Result Race 3:
1. Schothorst in 26 minuten en 21.425 seconden, 2. Albon +1.717, 3. Rowland +2.029, 4. Oscar Tunjo +6.744, 5. Pizzitola + 13.815, 6. Dalewski +17.856, 7. Jamin + 18.482, 8. Di Folco + 24.032, 9. Owens + 24.102, 10. Olsen +25.550
Standings in the championship after 14 races:
1. Matt Parry with 272 points, 2. Jack Aitken 197, 3. Dennis Olsen 185. 4. Andrea Pizzitola 170, 5. Steijn Schothorst 163, 6. Oliver Rowland 148, 7. Raoul Owens 126, 8. Mikko Pakari 125, 9. Nicolas Jamin 124, 10. Esteban Ocon 122
