Eurocup Mégane Trophy
After his majestic drive on Saturday, Mirko Bortolotti (Oregon Team) dominated again in the Eurocup Megane Trophy on Sunday. Like yesterday, the Italian completed a clean sweep by claiming pole position, fastest lap and the race victory. Bortolotti finished ahead of Mike Verschuur (McGregor by Equipe Verschuur) and Erik Janis (Gravity Charouz), a result that strengthens his position at the top of the championship.
Mirko Bortolotti was the dominant force in qualifying for the seventh time this year, taking pole position with a lap of 1:34.610. The Italian qualified ahead of Steven Palette (Team Lompech Sport) and Kelvin Snoeks (Oregon Team). Snoeks, however, received a four-place grid penalty for a collision yesterday. Mike Verschuur and Kevin Gilardoni (Oregon Team), then, lined up on the second row.
When the lights went out, championship leader Bortolotti held his lead from pole. Steven Palette botched his start and was overtaken by Mike Verschuur and Erik Janis, while behind them the chasing pack was compact, with wheel-to-wheel battles throughout.
On lap seven, after setting a string of fastest laps, Mirko Bortolotti took his mandatory refuelling stop. Mike Verschuur pitted a lap later, but could not find a way past his Oregon Team rival. And in the closing stages, Steven Palette lost third place after suffering a gearbox problem.
Mirko Bortolotti eventually took the chequered flag for his sixth victory of the season, with Mike Verschuur and Erik Janis second and third respectively. Kevin Gilardoni was fourth, followed by Max Braams (Las Moras by Equipe Verschuur), Marguerite Laffite (Oregon Team) and best-placed gentleman driver Enrico Bettera (Oregon Team). Jean-Charles Miginiac (Team Lompech Sport), Jakub Knoll (Gravity Charouz) and Oliver Freymuth (AKF Motorsport) also finished in the points.
What they said
Mirko Bortolotti : "I’m pleased with this result : a clean sweep, just like yesterday. Once again, the team did a fantastic job. Unfortunately my team-mate didn’t get the results he deserved, so we’re aiming for a good team performance in Budapest. There’s still a long way to go until the end of the season."
Mike Verschuur : "Our problems from yesterday vanished after we made a few changes. The car wasn’t very quick at the start of the race, but the team did a good job and managed to improve it. We need something extra if we’re to catch up with Mirko. That’ll be our goal in Hungary."
Erik Janis : "We’ve done a good job today. We studied the things we needed to improve and we were able to make ourselves more competitive. We couldn’t keep up with the leaders, unfortunately, as we didn’t have enough straight-line speed. We’ll need to change that."
Eurocup Megane Trophy – provisional championship standings : 1. M. Bortolotti 180 ; 2. M. Verschuur 117 ; 3. E. Janis 87 ; 4. K. Gilardoni 76 ; 5. K. Snoeks 71 [...]
Official Renault Sport Press Release.