Bangkok--14 Oct--Stuvik Racing project
Sandy’s best qualifying of the yearTop 28 of the world’s young
Final round (race 13-14) of Formula Renault Eurocup 2011 was held at Catalunya circuit, just outside Barcelona, Spain last weekend (October 9-10, 2011)
Race 13
Sandy Stuvik, the 16 year old Thai racer sponsored by Singha Corporation, The Pizza Company, Dacon Inspection Services, RAAT and SAT had his best qualifying of the year as 7th fastest in his group which saw him start from 14th place in the 38 car Formula Renault 2.0 grid, Sandy’s highest qualifying position this season. As the red lights went out Sandy had an awesome start and immediately started challenging forward. Coming through turn 2 he was forced wide onto the gravel and lost some of the gained positions, but still kept the momentum going.
Over the next laps Sandy showed he could match the pace of the cars around him and held his position. By lap 5 he was running strongly in his position, and was only 0.6 seconds per lap slower than race leader Carlos Sainz, when he was forced wide exiting turn 8 and launched his car up in the air on the high curbs. The ensuing damage to the car saw his lap times dropping radically and Sandy found himself sliding down the order until he finally took the checkered flag after 16 laps in 24th position. The race was won by Spaniard Javier Tarancon, with fellow Spanish Carlos Sainz in second and Russian racer Danil Kvyat in third.
Race 14
The final race started Sunday afternoon and the Thai driver Sandy Stuvik lined up on 27th spot on the grid, which shows how close the competition in Europe is as the first 10 drivers just ahead of him was within the same second as Sandy, and these are the best drivers from all over the world in this class. Sandy had again improved and was now setting his best qualifying lap with a time of 1:45:280, which was almost 1.3 second faster than his qualifying laps the previous day and a personal best time around the circuit. As the lights went out he again had a good start. He was keen to avoid a melee in the first corner and stayed on the inside of turn 1 and then outside at turn 2. As luck would have it several cars spun in front of Sandy and he was forced to brake to avoid contact and found himself virtually at the back of the 38 car grid.
Then started the long fight back up the order again and Sandy found himself with a solid and undamaged car and could start to push. He passed one car per lap and by the end of the race took the checkered flag in 26th position.
Congratulations to Robin Frijns from the Netherlands and Josef Kaufmann Racing for winning the championship, a fiercely competitive and hard fought championship at that. Carlos Sainz Jr from Spain is the first runner up while Danill Kvyat from Russia is the second runner.
Sandy wants to thank the very professional and capable Interwetten.com Junior Racing Team for their help and support in the latter part of the season, the progress for the young Thai rookie driver has been very positive and most certainly something to build on for years to come.
For Sandy Stuvik it is now back home to Thailand to plan the next step in his racing career with sponsors and his support team. The Thai driver has proven at the age of sixteen that he is in the top 28 of the world’s young and promising drivers and he intends to build and improve on this position over the next years in his quest to be a Thai driver at the pinnacle of the world’s motorsport.
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
Please see more details www.worldseriesbyrenault.com and http://www.interwettenracing.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