FR3.5-C2: Roberto Merhi ahead of Gasly in Moscow

The Moscow Raceway will have allowed World Series drivers by Renault to achieve their first victory in the discipline. After Aurelien Panis (ART Junior Team) and Kevin Jörg (Josef Kaufmann Racing) in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Sergey sirotkin (Fortec Motorsports) in Formula Renault 3.5 Series, Roberto Merhi (Zeta Corse) joined the list of winners at the end of Race 2 of the WSR premier category.

Starting from pole on the home ground of his team which had never yet tasted the joys of first position on the grid, Roberto Merhi retained the advantage against Pierre Gasly (Arden Motorsport) and Oliver Rowland (Fortec Motorsports) who took advantage of the poor start of Richie Stanaway (Lotus). The New Zealander recovered by passing the Briton again a few moments later, before the latter was also overtaken by his teammate Sergey Sirotkin. The top five did not move further until the finish despite the pit stops and the Spaniard was able to celebrate his first victory in the discipline. " Perfect day ! », exclaimed the winner. “I managed to take pole before getting a good start. I made a small mistake before my stop, I was surprised to see Pierre so close to me! I managed to widen the gap and I am proud to offer this first victory to my home team, it rewards our immense efforts since the start of the season. »

Pierre Gasly missed the victory but the Frenchman still achieved a great operation in the Championship since his rival Carlos Sainz Jr (Fortec Motorsports) could only finish sixth after starting from 11th position. The resident of Red Bull Junior Team retains the lead in the Championship but sees its lead reduced to 33 points. “I couldn’t do more”, comments the French pilot. “I got off to a good start before having a difficult first lap battling with Richie. I attacked to catch Roberto, but we didn't have enough pace to play for victory. This makes up for yesterday's frustration where I got stuck on the grid, but I'm going to try to get more at the Nürburgring! »

Discover the report on the World Series by Renault in Moscow in issue 1967 of AUTOhebdo, available from tomorrow evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.