Formula 3.5 V8

2013 FR3.5 Round 5: Moscow

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 24 total)
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  • #133295
    wsrgo
    Participant

    World Series by Renault returns this weekend with both the 3.5 and the 2.0 Eurocup rounds at Moscow. The only change in the driver line-up is that Carlos Sainz, Jr. will not take part this weekend (that would have meant him racing in six consecutive weekends from FR3.5 at Monaco to GP3 at Nurburgring, BTW). He will be replaced at Zeta Corse by British driver William Buller, who is currently participating in the FIA F3 European championship for Fortec. Buller becomes the sixth driver to race for Zeta Corse.

    #238117
    andae23
    Participant

    Stoffel Vandoorne will start race 1 from pole position. Antonio Felix da Costa was just .036s slower and starts second, while Magnussen qualified third, 0.4s slower than the leading pair. However, Magnussen’s two best lap times have been deleting because he blocked Huertas and Da Costa – at the moment, I’m not sure how this will affect the starting grid. Anyway, Melker qualified an impressive fourth, from Buller, Webb, Stockinger and Stevens.

    http://twitter.com/WSR_Live/status/348330818650927104/photo/1

    Race 1 will start at 11:00 UK time and is shown live on Eurosport.

    #238118
    andae23
    Participant

    Magnussen will start P17

    #238119
    Tomsk
    Participant

    Nasty crash for Foresti. Closed the door on Martsenko, got tipped over and went upside-down across a gravel trap, coming to rest against a tyre barrier. Yikes! Seems to be OK though.

    Here it is, thanks to some speedy Youtubing by somebody.

    #238120
    andae23
    Participant

    Stoffel Vandoorne wins race 1! Antonio Felix da Costa finished second and Nigel Melker completed the podium. Championship leader Magnussen overtook a lot of drivers in the first couple of laps but got stuck behind Pic. He eventually overtook him, but finished just outside the points in eleventh. Very proud to see two Dutch-speaking drivers on the podium by the way :)

    Foresti’s crash looked frightening! Thank goodness he’s OK, though it looked he hurt his arm.

    In other news: this apparently was Daniil Move’s 100th race in FR3.5 – though I’m not sure one should celebrate or mourn this…

    #238121
    wsrgo
    Participant

    @andae23 Has Aleshin crossed 100 yet?

    #238122
    andae23
    Participant

    @wsrgo Wikipedia says 88 starts… so close, but not quite :)

    #238123
    Tomsk
    Participant

    Race 2, with pitstops, is live on Eurosport 2 tomorrow (from 10.45 UK).
    Eurosport seem to have remembered they have the rights to this series…

    Another strong win for Vandoorne – would be nice if McLaren rewarded him with an F1 drive at the Young Drivers’ Test. Magnussen deserves a go too. Both wearing black helmets, of course.

    #238124
    Enigma
    Participant

    @Tomsk I think it might be Vandoorne, as Magnussen ran in Abu Dhabi last year already. Or they could split the running.

    Magnussen’s 11th is very good for the championship, top 3 within a race win now. Great battle between three very talented youngsters.

    #238125

    @andae23 @wsrgo According to Forix Sunday’s race will be Move’s 100th appearance in an FR3.5 race. Today was his 97th start and 99th appearance. He had a DNQ at Monaco and 2007 and a DNS at the second race at Magny-Cours in 2010.

    (Insert usual whinge about looking anything up on Wikipedia being a complete waste of time here.)

    And yes, it is a joke that a driver has managed to accumulate that many starts in a feeder series.

    #238126
    andae23
    Participant

    @keithcollantine Wikipedia says he has had 93 starts. It was actually the official WSR Twitter account that said so:
    http://twitter.com/WSR_Live/status/348380127392047104
    I would look it up, but to be honest I really couldn’t care less :P

    #238127
    wsrgo
    Participant

    @keithcollantine @andae23 Well, FR3.5 used to be a rejectful series till a few years ago, so I can very much understand Move staying on year-after-year. What I cannot fathom is that now, when the stock of this series is increasing by leaps and bounds, he still found a race seat with a team that won the championship in 2006!

    #238128
    wsrgo
    Participant

    Stoffel Vandoorne wins again at Moscow, beating fellow McLaren junior Kevin Magnussen and Will Stevens. Vandoorne is now leading the WSR standings. Apart from that, Red Bull Junior Antonio Felix da Costa retired from the race.

    #238129
    Victor.
    Participant

    Vandoorne is phenomenal. Where is da Costa this year? Sure, he’s had two retirements, but he’s not as frightening as last year.

    #238130
    Nick
    Participant

    I think Da Costa had the advantage of not having to race for the championship last year, while Frijns, Bianchi and Bird were getting more careful as the season progressed. That allowed Magnussen and Da Costa to race freely, which does help a little, the field being close helps as well.

    There might also be a mental factor involved; he came in last year and won, won, won, and now he’s finding himself in a much tougher fight. That might have gotten between his ears as well and raised the pressure on him; countless people (myself included) imagined he’d walk away with this year’s title. If someone like Christian Horner, Franz Tost, Helmut Marko or even the big boss himself expressed that expectation too, that might cause him some concern.

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