Formula Renault 2.0
Oliver Rowland (Manor MP Motorsport) and Pierre Gasly (Tech 1 Racing) have pulled clear at the top of the standings, the British driver now enjoying a 17-point lead over his French pursuer. Behind them, however, lie a clutch of drivers who are not about to give up the chase.
With six top-five finishes in eight races, Jake Dennis (Fortec Motorsports) has serious designs on a podium place. As for Esteban Ocon (ART Junior Team), who collected a solitary point on a weekend to forget in Austria, the objective will be to bounce straight back and regain third place. His Lotus F1 Junior Team partner Oscar Tunjo (Josef Kaufmann Racing) will be no less determined, especially having climbed on to the podium in Budapest in 2011.
After kicking off the season with a brace of victories at Motorland Aragon, Matthieu Vaxiviere (Tech 1 Racing) needs to react fast if he is to move back up the standings. Third in Moscow and a winner at the Red Bull Ring, Ignazio D’Agosto (KTR) has his sights set on success, as has team-mate Alexander Albon (KTR) a luckless polesitter in Austria, and William Vermont (ARTA Engineering) and Ed Jones (Fortec Motorsports), who both notched top-three finishes in the previous round.
The podium is exactly where Prema Powerteam duo Luca Ghiotto and Bruno Bonifacio want to be, having failed to appear there since round two at Spa-Francorchamps. Among the other drivers who will be on a salvage mission in Hungary are Mikko Pakari (Fortec Motorsports) and Nyck de Vries (Koiranen GP), both of whom earned second places there 12 months ago, the last time the McLaren tyro was on the podium.
Race 1: Saturday 14 September, 11:25
Race 2: Sunday 15 September, 16:20
Official Renault Sport Press Release.