Oregon Team wins in first-ever Renault Sport Trophy race

Oregon Team has won the first-ever race in the new Renault Sport Trophy, today at Spa-Frankorchamps. The Italian duo of David Fumanelli and Dario Capitanio in #8 Renault Sport R.S. 01 drove to victory in the Endurance race ahead of team-mates Luciano Bacheta and Niccol0 Nalio in car #6. Andrea Pizzitola and Richard Gonda (ART Junior Team #2) were third.

During the qualifying session reserved for the Prestige drivers, Richard Gonda won the pole for the Endurance race with a time of 2:13.272. The tandem of Gonda and Pizzitola, lined up ahead of Nalio-Bacheta and Braams–Geerts (V8 Racing #4), with the Prestige drivers starting the race.

During the rolling start, Richard Gonda held off Niccolo Nalio. Behind them, Dario Capitanio surprised Diederik Sijthoff (V8 Racing #5) on the outside of the Fanges corner to take third place. Fifth place Toni Forne (ART Junior Team #3) was overtaken by Max Braams on lap five then Stefano Costantini (V8 Racing #45) two laps later. Richard Gonda led just before the driver changes from Niccol0 Nalio, Dario Capitanio, Diederik Sijthoff and Max Braams.

The pit stops changed the order. Among the first to come in, Richard Gonda handed over to Andrea Pizzitola, but he saw Luciano Bacheta leave ahead of him, then David Fumanelli took the lead of the race. Behind the leading trio, Nicky Pastorelli (V8 Racing #5) suffered a puncture on lap 23, as did his stable mate Roy Geerts (V8 Racing #4) three laps later. While Fumanelli went on for the win ahead of Luciano Bacheta and Andrea Pizzitola, Wolfgang Reip (Monlau Competicion #14) put in a strong drive to finish fourth, followed by Indy Dontje (ART Junior Team #3).

David Fumanelli: “It is fantastic to win in the first race of the championship. It was rather tense with Luciano when I got in the car, but I managed to hold onto the lead. The car is really wonderful, with a lot of downforce, very strong brakes and amazing cornering speeds. I am very happy with this win, but I have to stay focused and score as many points as possible in the sprint race tomorrow.”

Dario Capitanio: “The start was the hardest part of this race. I had to overtake a rather slow driver without losing ground to the leaders. Once I passed him, I attacked to stay within eye contact. We chose to stop two laps later than the others, and the team as well as David did a superb job. This victory brings me great joy.”

Two short races (25 minutes) are scheduled for tommorow. Race 2 will start at 10.40 and Race 3 will start at 15.15 (CET).