EU 2.0: Series Catalunya race two report

Costa takes his revenge

After getting disqualified after race 1 due a technical non-conformity, Albert Costa (Epsilon Euskadi) owed it to himself to underline his talent by excelling in race 2. Acclaimed by a big crowd willing him on to victory, Albert Costa took the win on home soil ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa (Motopark Academy) and Miki Monras (SG Formula).

The sun was shining on the Barcelona circuit this Sunday morning and the public had come in large numbers to attend the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 race 2. And in front of his home crowd, Albert Costa made a perfect start from pole position to take control of the race, ahead of Miki Monras, Antonio Felix da Costa and Nico Muller (Jenzer Motorsport).

There were a number of collisions to report. The safety car was called out and several cars had to be cleared Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Motopark Academy), Nathanael Berthon (Epsilon Euskadi), Carlos Munoz (Epsilon Euskadi), Luciano Bacheta (Epsilon Sport) and Johan Jokinen (Iquick Valencia). Marco Sorensen (Motopark Academy) went into the pits and had to retire, while Daniel de Jong (MP Motorsport) had a new bonnet fitted and was able to restart.

As the safety car pulled off, Albert Costa held the lead ahead of Monras and Felix da Costa. Very much in attacking form, Antonio Felix da Costa found a gap and got past Miki Monras to move into second. Patrick Kronenberger (Iquick Valencia) lay in 4th position while Jean-Eric Vergne, eleventh on the start grid, had already shifted up to fifth, after an overtaking spree that included Nico Muller.

Albert Costa stretched his lead with each lap. By mid-race, the Barcelonese was over four seconds ahead of second-placed Antonio Felix da Costa. The battle for third place on the podium was still undecided. Miki Monras was under pressure from Patrick Kronenberger, Jean-Eric Vergne and Nico Muller. Back in seventh place, Adam Kout (Krenek Motorsport) was having to resist the come-back of James Calado (Fortec Motorsport), as well as Daniel Mancinelli (One Racing) and Arthur Pic (SG Formula). The Krenek Motorsport driver finally weakened under the pressure and was overtaken by his co-competitors.

The duel between Kronenberger and Vergne let Monras get away. Jean-Eric Vergne was showing signs of impatience behind the German driver and Nico Muller tried to take advantage of the situation. In an overly optimistic manoeuvre, the Swiss driver came together with the Frenchman. Patrick Kronenberger held onto his 4th place, but Vergne and Muller had to retire. James Calado, Daniel Mancinelli and Arthur Pic benefited, moving up to 5th, 6th and 7th.

Albert Costa lead the race from start-to-finish and took sweet revenge after the disappointment of Saturday's disqualification. The Spaniard finished more than seven seconds ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa and Miki Monras. With two podium finishes this weekend, Antonio Felix da Costa goes away from Barcelona e at the top of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 standings.

Albert Costa: "Getting disqualified yesterday only made me even more motivated today. I got a perfect start and immediately pressed as hard as I could to create the gap. After the race was neutralized my strategy was the same: I pushed hard for two or three laps, then I controlled the lead. It's only the beginning of the season and we have a lot of work to do. We've not done badly here for the championship race. We're competitive and we need to carry on with the good work at Spa-Francorchamps."

Antonio Felix da Costa: "This is a good weekend for us, despite not doing so well in qualifying in my case. I scored important points yesterday and today. I managed to overtake Miki Monras at the restart. My next job will be to get my first win in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. I love Spa-Francorchamps and I hope I can do it there."

Miki Monras: "It's a real thrill for me to finish on the podium, especially here in Barcelona. It's not been the greatest weekend for us, but we go away with a few points on the board. At the restart I didn't see that Antonio was so close. My braking into the turn wasn't good and he took advantage of that. We have to make some more progress, but by the time we get to Spa-Francorchamps all the team at SG Formula is going to be ready to get our own back."

Results subject to scrutineering

-credit: wsr