Bangkok--18 Apr--Stuvik Racing project
16 year old Thai racer “Sandy Stuvik” sponsored by The Pizza Company, Dacon Inspection Services, Singha Corporation, RAAT and SAT makes his first race of Formula Renault EuroCup 2011 at Motorland Aragon Circuit in Spain during 16-17 April, 2011. The circuit is located in Zaragoza, south-west of Barcelona. Total length is 5.34 km.
Sandy's debut in the Formula Renault EuroCup went above all expectations, with the young Thai racer fighting for points from the onset. Starting from 19th place on the grid, Sandy took advantage of the first lap carnage on the straight and quickly moved himself up to 11th place. Several laps then went under Safety Car, while the start area was cleaned up from damaged cars. He then had a good restart and kept up with the lead group until a brake balance problem kicked in and slowed sandy down several seconds per lap. He then had some laps where he traded positions back and forth, but as he had to break much earlier than normal he lost 3-4 positions.
By the end he took the checkered flag in 11th place, much higher than the team had hoped for, but still frustrated at having lost out on a points position.
Carlos Saintz won the race ahead of Frijns and Riberas, while sitter Will Stevens went out of the race mid way through
The second race of the EuroCup started late in the afternoon Sunday and after a dismal qualifying run in the morning the Thai racer found himself starting from 31st of the 34 car grid, all the way at the back of the grid. His qualifying time was a mere 1.6 second behind pole sitter Stevens, which goes to show how fiercely competitive this European junior formula series is.
Sandy had a good start and immediately passed several cars going into the first lap, this time with no major incident. He started overtaking one or two cars each lap and by the 5th lap he was up to 18th place.
The race was fought hard, but fair up and down the long grid of cars, with Will Stevens leading the race from pole position, his second of the this race weekend. Carlos Saintz ran second and Robin Frijns throughout. Sandy managed to get up to 16th position, by lap 10, but all the late breaking to overtake others took its toll on his front tires. Towards the end of the race the flat spotted front tires vibrated so much he had to concede 2 places on the final lap, finally taking the checkered flag in 18th place.
The young Thai was happy with having finished both his first 2 EuroCup races and without any major incidents. The team had hoped for a mid field performance and Sandy managed to deliver with excellent results.
From here the young racer will go straight to the Navarra Circuit for the final official 2 days of testing, in preparation for the next round at Spa Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium on April 31 and May 1.
The Formula Renault EuroCup has been raced since 1991. It is organized under the “World Series by Renault” program and races on Formula One tracks across Europe. The 2011 season will start at Motorland in Spain and move on to Spa Francorchamps, then N?rburgring, Hugaroring, Silverstone, Paul Ricard, before ending back in Spain at Catalunya Circuit in October. The championship winner will secure a budget of Euro 500 000 to continue Formula Renault V6. Racing drivers who has passed Formula Renault Eurocup and is now in Formula One now are amongst other Pedro de la Rosa, Filipe Massa and Kamui Kobayashi.
Sandy’s Formula Renault Eurocup 2011 Racing Schedule:
Rounds 1 & 2: 16-17 April Motorland, Spain
Rounds 3 & 4 30 April — 1 May Spa-Francorchamps Belgium
Rounds 5 & 6 18-19 June N?rburgring Germany
Rounds 7 & 8 2-3 July Hugaroring Hungary
Rounds 9 & 10 20-21 August Silverstone UK
Rounds 11 & 12 17-18 September Paul Ricard France
Rounds 13 & 14 8-9 October Catalunya Spain
www.worldseriesbyrenault.com
For more information, please contact
Ms. Sasinee Aoucharoenpuck
PR Executive
Tel:+66 38 880788 Fax: +66 38 880727
Email:
[email protected]
Website: www.sandystuvik.com