27 septembre 2015
Hubert comes up big at home
Starting from pole position, Anthoine Hubert (Tech 1 Racing) won race two of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 held at Circuit Bugatti Le Mans. Surprised at the start by team mate Simon Gachet (Tech 1 Racing), the French driver returned the favour to take his second success of the season. While Simon Gachet crossed the line in second place, he lost the position to Dennis Olsen (Manor MP Motorsport) after short-cutting the chicane on the last lap. The Norwegian was back on the podium for the first time since Motorland Aragón. The fight for the title at Jerez will be massive because Louis Delétraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing) still leads the general classification with more victories than his team mate Kevin Jörg (Josef Kaufmann Racing), but six drivers can still snatch the crown away from the Swiss duo in October.
In the morning, Anthoine Hubert (Tech 1 Racing) took his second pole position of the season ahead of team mate Simon Gachet (Tech 1 Racing). Ignazio D’Agosto (Manor MP Motorsport) started third ahead of Switzerland’s Kevin Jörg (Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Louis Delétraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing).
Gachet surprises Hubert
At the start, the duel between the two Tech 1 Racing drivers went the way of Simon Gachet against Anthoine Hubert. Ignazio D’Agosto held onto third place ahead of Dennis Olsen (Manor MP Motorsport) and Harrison Scott (AVF),who started sixth and eighth respectively. The retirement of Matevos Isaakyan (JD Motorsport) on lap one brought out the safety car.
Hubert strikes back
At the re-start, the two Frenchmen held position, while Dennis Olsen passed Ignazio D’Agosto for third place. Further back, Ben Barnicoat (Fortec Motorsports) snatched sixth place from Jack Aitken (Koiranen GP). On lap six, Anthoine Hubert re-took the lead at turn one, with the group of leaders running in close quarters.
At the end of the 17 lap race, Anthoine Hubert took the win in front of Simon Gachet, who was penalized after the race, Dennis Olsen and Ignazio D’Agosto, with just 6/10ths of a second separating the three. Fifth place Harrison Scott (AVF) lost five places for having gained an advantage in passing the track limits. Ben Barnicoat moves up to fifth ahead of Jack Aitken and the leaders in the general classification Kevin Jörg and Louis Delétraz. Ukyo Sasahara (ART Junior Team) finished ninth ahead of Harrison Scott.
Quotes
Anthoine Hubert : “It is my second win of the season, but it is very different from the first. To win at home is really special. We didn’t have a very good qualifying yesterday, but everything went very well today. It was close with Simon at the first corner. I kept cool to repass him and it all went very nicely all the way to the chequered flag. A big thank you to the team !”
Dennis Olsen : “I wasn’t really expecting to be on the podium, although we resolved some problems that have handicapped since the start of the year. It was a difficult situation to live with as much for the team as for myself. We are now stronger, closer to the front and we will battle at Jerez to finish in style.”
Simon Gachet : “It was a very good day. The team monopolized the front row, which is a nice reward for the work the team has done. I got a good start and took the lead at the first corner. Anthoine then re-took the position and I cut the chicane on the final lap in my duel with Dennis. I was penalized a position. It is a shame, but I will aim for another podium, if not better at Jerez !”
Provisional general classification * : L. Delétraz – 163 points, 2. K. Jörg – 163, 3. J. Aitken – 156, 4. A. Hubert – 148, 5. B. Barnicoat – 134…*Subject to confirmation of the results following the technical and sporting verifications
