- Silverstone - Race 2
A roaring success with the 110 000 strong crowd, this weekend's British round of the World Series by Renault at Silverstone was also a resounding personal success for Maxime Martin (Boutsen Energy Racing) who carried off wins in both Eurocup Mégane Trophy races. In the championship standings, he closed the gap on Michaël Rossi (TDS) who is currently second behind Dimitri Enjalbert (Tech 1 Racing).
Winner of the first race and starting in pole position, Maxime Martin made the best start ahead of Dimitri Enjalbert, Michaël Rossi, Sebastien Dhouailly (Team Lompech) and Matthieu Cheruy (Tech 1 Racing). These five drivers set the tempo for the race, pulling away as in tight formation.
Maxime Martin managed to open up a small lead on the rest of pack, but it was clear that none of the five leaders would be able to make the break until after the obligatory round of pit stops.
In the fight for sixth position, Ralph Meichtry (Race Performance) did all he could to hold off Jonathan Hirschi (Tech 1 Racing), Fabrice Walfisch (Oregon Team) and Bernhard Ten Brinke (Equipe Verschuur). Hirschi and Ten Brinke respectively took advantage Meichtry of Walfisch. At the start, Ten Brinke pulled off a superb maneuver at Stowe to steal seventh position from Ralph Meichtry. Meichtry soon took back his place at very the same corner!
Matthieu Cheruy was the first to stop, followed one lap later by race-leader Maxime Martin who entered the pits at the same time as Michaël Rossi. Next came the turn of Dimitri Enjalbert and Sébastien Dhouailly.
After the refueling, Maxime Martin reclaimed the lead, but it was now Michaël Rossi who was in second postion. The TDS driver took advantage of a brake problem on the Mégane of Dimitri Enjalbert to knock him from second position.
Maxime Martin made his break in the second part of the race. The Belgian driver built up an unchallenged lead over Michaël Rossi and Dimitri Enjalbert who stayed close to one another. The three men stayed in this order until the end of the race even when Dimitri Enjalbert committed a minor error near the finish. In the Gentleman Drivers category, it was the turn of Harrie Kolen (Equipe Verschuur) to take victory for the first time this season.
For Maxime Martin it was a perfect weekend. His reward was two pole positions and two victories. He leaves Silverstone second in the championship, three points behind leader Michaël Rossi.
Maxime Martin: «The weekend started well with the two pole positions and finished even better with two wins. I got off to a good start. We've got a consistently good car. I just lost a lot of time in traffic at the end of the race. The championship places have changed. The end of the season is still a long way off, we're only at the start, but it was good to be here today.»
Michaël Rossi: «Yesterday I had a fuel problem, so it was a poor result. Today, we put things right. I like the Budapest circuit, I'm hoping to make a comeback there.»
Dimitri Enjalbert: »It's another podium finish, but I'm a little disappointed as I lost a lot of time in the stands. I had a clutch problem and I took more than 10 seconds to get going. I can't wait for the next meeting!»
- Blanca de Foronda -
Photos will be on automobilsport.com under PHOTOS - FORMULA
More reports from this category all copyright automobilsport.com.
