Richard bounces back after hitting the wall
Richard Singleton, our man in Europe, suffered the ups and downs of motor racing in first rounds of the Formula Renault Eurocup at Spa Francorchamps, the legendary Belgian circuit, after accidents in practice and the first race left him with a lot to do. With points only offer from 10th place upwards, the Formula Renault Eurocup is one of the most intense racing series in Europe and with over 48 drivers entering each round, a good qualifying position is vital. (Only after you see the Spa photo gallery do you comprehend the massive size of the Eurocup series.) Although he described the circuit as ‘really nice to drive’ Richard continued "We struggled in testing, but I was able to get into the Super Pole qualifying session but I only got in 4 laps after I hit the wall, that put us on the back foot and so I started 23rd." However although the Hitech Junior team was able to repair the damage to his rear wing, he had time for just one lap. Things didn’t get any better for Richard early on, "I got a good start in Race 1, (he made up 10 places on the first lap) but then I broke my front wing trying to make up more places. I lost a lot of time getting into the pits for a new wing, and that was that as far a race one was concerned, I also had to start race 2 from way down again ." This time however Singleton managed to pick up a lot of places and finished in 14th place, the first British Driver home. The race wins were shared between Daniel Riccardo from Austria who win race 1 and Dutchman Paul Meijer who won race 2 after the much fancied Fin Valtteri Bottas made a false-start. Daniel Riccardo leads the championship with 23 points, 2nd is the Italian Daniel Zampier with 18 pts and Brazilian Cesar Ramos 3rd with 17 pts.
The next race in the Eurocup Series is at Silverstone on June 7/8th June on the full Grand Prix circuit and Richard will be hoping for better luck at his teams home circuit.
Richards Spa Photo Gallery