FR 3.5 – Vandoorne recovers at Spa-Francorchamps

Stoffel Vandoorne recovered well after his disappointing race the day before at Spa-Francorchamps where he only took 13th place. The local driver who started from third position on the grid for the second Formula event Renault 3.5 Series made the best start to take the lead of the event on the first lap while the poleman Kevin Magnussen (Dams), victorious in the first race, missed his start and found himself behind Nico Müller (International Draco Racing) who started alongside him. The safety car then went off track following a pile-up at Raidillon which notably involved Arthur Pic (AV Formula).

The leader retained the advantage at the restart ahead of Nico Müller, but the Swiss driver lost ground in the pits and thus left second place to the Championship leader who found himself threatened by Will Stevens (P1 by Strakka Racing). The Briton finally managed to gain the advantage over the Dane. Stoffel Vandoorne was no longer worried and was thus able to celebrate his second victory of the season after that won during the opening round at Monza. The reigning champion of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 is 29 points behind Kevin Magnussen who still had a good performance this weekend since he only had a 14-point lead arriving in the Belgian Ardennes. Antonio Félix da Costa took fourth place ahead of Nico Müller and Nigel Melker (Tech 1 Racing). Frenchman Norma Nato (Dams) finished 15th.

Discover the report on the World Series by Renault at Spa-Francorchamps in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.