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Crashed out on turn one, wrong place at the wrong time.
Official Race Report
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 Müller (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), Nathanaël 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-Éric Vergne, eleventh on the start grid, had already shifted up to fifth, after an overtaking spree that included Nico Müller.
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-Éric Vergne and Nico Müller. 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-Éric Vergne was showing signs of impatience behind the German driver and Nico Müller 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.
Posted: 18.04.2009