Racing at home had a very good effect on Jon Lancaster and SuperNova Racing
The british pair emerged from a treacherous Race 1 in Donington with a win for Jon and a one-two result for the team thanks to the 2nd place clinched by Luca Filippi, boasting both some great driving and a good strategy by the team.Rain, as expected, fell on the Donington track making it so soaking wet that Race Direction was forced to opt for a start under Safety-Car. This made race tactics by the teams as important as outright pace: with the Safety-Car on track, completing the mandatory pit-stop as soon as the pit window opened seemed to be the best solution, and that’s what SuperNova did with both cars, immediately on lap 4.
Jon Lancaster and SuperNova on pole in Donington
Lazarus did the same with Fabizio Crestani, as well as Ombra with Kevin Ceccon and Mp Motorsport with Daniel de Jong, names that ended the race in the top spots of the classification. This was because pitting so early they were able to make the most of the Safety-Car’s slow pace to get back to the tail of the group, then passing their rivals while it was their turn to pit.
The only driver of the front pack that did choose a different strategy, pitting one lap later, was Adam Carroll and this costed him the race: he came back on track in P12, and he if he closed the race in fifth position it was just thanks to a great recovery that he made together with team mate Bruno Mendez.
In front, in the meantime, the race had some amazing moments: when the Safety-Car was called back into the pits, on lap 6, Filippi took the lead overtaking Haryanto (the only driver that opted for a very late pit-stop) on the outside in the downhill Craner section, and flew away easily gaining a 6 seconds advantage on the closest rival.
Anyway, Lancaster had just started his staggering recovery: 4th after his pit-stop, he first passed Kevin Ceccon at Coppice, and then made the most of a mistake by Crestani to take P2. Then he put Filippi in his crosshair and in just three laps he managed to clear a 4 seconds gap: as soon as he arrived on the Italian’s tail he attacked and passed him at Coppice, leaving Luca no space for a reply.
The Italian tried to keep the same pace in the first corner, but in half a lap Lancaster had already gained a 1” advantage so Luca decided to settle for 2nd, a good result for his Championship.
Crestani was third, clinching the second podium in a row after the Brno one: in the first part of the race Fabrizio seemed in the condition to challenge Filippi, but after the mistake that let Lancaster through he preferred to control the race, keeping the gap to Ceccon behind him. Kevin, from his side, did the same settling for a fourth place that strengthens his leadership in the Under 21 Trophy.
Carroll was sixth after an amazing recovery, and behind him was a surprising Daniel de Jong: the Dutchman took advantage of the fight between Carroll and Mendez to squeeze between the Campos pair: MP Motorsport used the same strategy as the winner and Daniel made the best use of it, with a quick but cautious drive that gave the team a result beyond their expectations on their debut event.
Eight was Samuele Buttarelli for TP Formula: starting from third place on the grid he made a mistake in the Safety-Car period, going off at the bottom of the Craners and remaining nearly stuck in the gravel. Anyway he managed to rejoin, and in the last laps of the race emerged as the winner in a duel with Giovanni Venturini, grabbing a very important pole position for tomorrow’s Race 2.
On the less lucky side of the race, Onidi went out with 4 laps to go hitting the barriers (with no consequences for him), while Adrian Campos Jr. couldn’t start due to electrical issues.
Jon Lancaster:
“Winning my home race at just my second Auto GP meeting is an incredible feeling. It wasn’t an easy race, and starting with the Safety-Car was the right call, there was really a lot of water in the first minutes. Then at the pit-stop the race seemed gone: Filippi was in front so I had to pit behind him, meaning that I had to wait the SuperNova guys to change the tyres on his car before taking care of mine. Anyway, we thought that stopping immediately was so important that it was worth the disadvantage. Luckily, when I came out of the pits the car felt great, I pushed to see how it did feel and the quicker I was going the more confidence I was getting, so I started recovering at a rate that frankly was surprising even for myself. When I passed Luca I just flew away, it was really great”.
Luca Filippi:
“Stopping immediately was the right call, and after that the race seemed in my hand. Then Jon started his recovery with a pace that was frankly impressive, and when he passed me I had to choose what to do. I tried to follow him at first, but then I realized that he was really giving everything to clinch his first Auto GP win, and that I had to take too many risks to stay with him. I must think to my championship, so I decided to let him go, 2nd is a great result anyway”.
Fabrizio Crestani:
“We are again on the podium after Brno, and this pleases me as it means that we are starting to be consistent. When I saw the rain I was quite happy because usually I cope quite well with wet conditions, and indeed I was really quick at the start of the race: I was catching Filippi when I locked my front wheels and I went off at the hairpin, luckily being able to rejoin. Anyway at that point the gap was so big that I decided to settle for 3rd, it’s a very good result for me and for the team”.
Result: Donington, 16 July, Race 1
1 Jon LANCASTER Supernova Racing 21 laps in 38:46.643, avg. 129,97 km/h
2 Luca FILIPPI Supernova Racing +7.675
3 Fabrizio CRESTANI Lazarus +21.718
4 Kevin CECCON Ombra Racing +26.141
5 Adam CARROLL Campos Racing +27.716
6 Daniel DE JONG MP Motorsport +39.272
7 Bruno MENDEZ Campos Racing +43.294
8 Samuele BUTTARELLI TP Formula +53.953
9 Giovanni VENTURINI Griffitz Durango +1:11.664
10 Pasquale DI SABATINO TP Formula +1:11.973
11 Rio HARYANTO Dams +1:23.973
12 Giuseppe CIPRIANI Griffitz Durango +1 LAP
13 Fabio ONIDI Lazarus +4 LAPS
DNF Francesco DRACONE Ombra Racing
Drivers Standings:
1. Filippi 92;
2. Ceccon 75;
3. Venturini 519;
4. Crestani 47;
5. Buttarelli, Onidi e Afanasiev 44;
8. Lancaster 43; 9. Tambay 40;
10. Haryanto 29.
Under 21 Standings:
1. Ceccon 120;
2. Buttarelli 81;
3. Venturini 75;
4. Haryanto 66;
5. Mendez 61;
6. Tambay 57;
7. de Jong 18;
8. Bizzarri 10.
Teams Standings:
1. SuperNova 138;
2. DAMS 106;
3. Lazarus 91;
4. Ombra 81;
5. TP Formula 60;
6. Griffitz Durango e Campos Racing 53;
8. Mp Motorsport 8;
9. Emmebi 1.
Right hand injury for Fabio Onidi
Bad news for Fabio Onidi. The Italian driver, who retired from Race 1 in Donington with just 4 laps to go due to a crash in the Craner downhill section, suffered the displaced fracture of his right hand’s metacarpus.
Onidi’s injury wasn’t a consequence of the impact with the tyre wall, but happened in a previous contact with Rio Haryanto, on the last corner of lap 16: the contact between Fabio’s front right tyre and the side of Haryanto’s car generated a violent steering reaction that caused the fracture. Onidi didn’t realize that he had been injured and continued the race, but when he arrived at the Craners he discovered that he couldn’t apply the needed force on the steering and lost the car.
He was transported to the hospital in Derby, and he will undergo surgery as early as today to reduce the fracture. Times for a recovery will be clearer in the next days, but surely Fabio won’t be able to attend the next event in Oschersleben, just two weeks away.
source: AutoGP
Fourth place for Ceccon in Donington
Good performance for Kevin Ceccon in the first race of the Auto GP weekend in Donington
The Italian driver, the youngest of the grid at 17 years old, boasted a very consistent drive clinching 4th place after a race that was made very difficult by heavy rain, something that forced Race Direction to opt for a start under Safety-Car.
Kevin, who was starting 5th after yesterday’s Qualifying, made the most of the good strategy choice by Ombra Racing: the team called him to serve his mandatory pit-stop as soon as the window was opened, at the start of lap 4. This choice, the same made by the other top finishers, allowed Ceccon to stay with the leaders, in the best position to attack when the Safety-Car was called back in the pits, at the end of lap 6.
At the restart Kevin switched to “full attack mode”, catched and passed Fabrizio Crestani and then did the same with Rio Haryanto taking 3rd place. After such a restart Ceccon seemed ready for a podium finish, but give the asphalt treacherous condition he decided to ease his pace a bit.
This allowed Crestani to fight back, and the Italian passed Kevin on lap 9. With a very cool mind, Ceccon preferred not to risk anything, and decided to settle for a 4th overall finish that meant also P1 in the Under 21 Trophy, where he further stretched his lead.
Kevin Ceccon: “I’m happy with this result. There was really a lot of water on the track and making mistakes with big consequences was really easy. That’s why my first aim has been finishing the race and avoiding risks, I knew that in such difficult conditions this would have been enough to clinch a good result. I did it, I gained some points on my Under 21 rivals and also in the Overall Standings I’m not far from Luca, who will miss the Oschersleben race due to a clash with GP2. And tomorrow I’m starting from P5, so we can still do something good”.
source: Press Release