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Starting from 18th this time, I had a good start again, and was up to 15th before Le Combes, I overtook another car, but didn't find anymore opportunities during lap one. On the second lap there was an accident half way along the straight, both drivers were ok and it gifted me another 2 places, at the next corner, another 2 cars tangled and I found myself in 11th, one place behind a points finish.
The safety car made its entrance due to the incidents on track, and when it came in I had a good restart, but I was unable to take full advantage, I kept pushing (and defending from a queue of cars behind) knowing that one more retirement would give me a point. This didn't happen, and on the second to last lap I was overtaken, I crossed the line in 12th.
I came away from Spa happy with my own performance, but obviously still very unhappy about the results. I'm glad that on what is supposed to be our worst track, we got close to points, it should only get better from here!
Official Race Report
Just like yesterday, pole-sitter Albert Costa got off to the best start and was first through the Eau Rouge / Raidillon combination again, ahead of the chasing Kevin Magnussen (Motopark Academy), Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Motopark Academy) and Antonio Felix da Costa. The three Motopark Academy cars reversed their order into Les Combes, with Adrian Quaife-Hobbs in second, Antonio Felix da Costa in third and Kevin Magnussen fourth. The top five also counted French driver Jean-Éric Vergne (SG Formula).
The second lap saw drama with a coming together in the approach to the Les Combes corner. This put an end to the race ambitions for Luis Derani (Motopark Academy), Carlos Munoz (Epsilon Euskadi) and Nigel Melker (MP Motorsport) and saw the safety car came out ahead of leader Albert Costa.
After the restart, the race order remained unchanged. Albert Costa held his lead ahead of Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, Antonio Felix da Costa and Jean-Éric Vergne. Vergne was holding off team-mate Miki Monras. He tried his luck in Les Combes, his attempt failed and he then found himself under pressure from a group on his tail including Nathanaël Berthon (Epsilon Euskadi), James Calado (Fortec Motorsport), Arthur Pic (SG Formula) and Nico Muller (Jenzer Motorsport).
Antonio Felix da Costa was determined not to let Albert Costa fly away from the field so easily. The Portuguese driver overtook Adrian Quaife-Hobbs to move into second and then tried to close the gap on Costa. In response, Costa sent his rivals a telling message by putting in the fastest race lap on lap 7, and then stabilizing his lead at about 1’’5.
The battle for 5th place was still very much on. Jean-Éric Vergne was losing ground and got overhauled by Miki Monras and Nathanaël Berhon one after the other. Clearly having difficulty with his car, the Frenchman was also in the sights of James Calado and Arthur Pic. Calado got the better of Vergne to grab 7th in the closing stages of the race.
Up front, Albert Costa drove to a comfortable win, without really seeming to have been worried. This third win in four races puts the Catalan driver in the lead in the overall standings of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, ahead of Antonio Felix da Costa, who was second today. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, with his third place finish, got onto the podium for the first time this season.
Posted: 02.05.2009