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Pizzitola triumphs in reverse-grid race at Hockenheim

by Valentin Khorounzhiy

Photo: Chris Schotanus

ART Junior Team’s Andrea Pizzitola took his maiden Formula Renault 2.0 NEC win in the third race of the opening round at Hockenheim.

Having finished sixth in race one, Pizzitola started race three from pole with Jack Aitken lining up alongside him. The Frenchman ended up untroubled for most of the race and took a deserved lights-to-flag victory, capitalising on the overtaking that went on behind him.

Another great overtaking performance saw Oliver Rowland take his third podium in three races, while polesitter for the first two races Matt Parry finished in third. His teammates, Mikko Pakari and Shahaan Engineer, took fourth and sixth, with Josef Kaufmann Racing’s Steijn Schothorst between them.

Gustav Malja, another JKR driver, finished seventh, ahead of Esteban Ocon, who had to fight back up the grid after losing a lot of positions in the beginning. Reigning champion Jake Dennis took ninth, while Jakub Dalewski took his first top ten finish in the series.

After round one, Rowland leads the championship with 68 points to Ocon’s 60 and Pakari’s 57. With none of them expected to do the series full-time this year, it’s Parry and Pizzitola who emerge from the opener as contenders.

Race results
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1 Andrea Pizzitola ART Junior Team 16 laps in 26:34.645
2 Oliver Rowland Manor MP Motorsport +3.278
3 Matt Parry Fortec Motorsports +6.079
4 Mikko Pakari Fortec Motorsports +8.578
5 Steijn Schothorst Josef Kaufmann Racing +10.495
6 Shahaan Engineer Fortec Motorsports +11.260
7 Gustav Malja Josef Kaufmann Racing +12.015
8 Esteban Ocon ART Junior Team +12.269
9 Jake Dennis Fortec Motorsports +14.807
10 Jakub Dalewski JD Motorsport +22.803
11 Dennis Olsen Josef Kaufmann Racing +23.108
12 Erik Johansson KEO Racing +26.914
13 Ed Jones Fortec Motorsports +27.670
14 Yu Kanamaru KTR +28.342
15 Raoul Owens Mark Burdett Racing +28.723
16 Tanart Sathienthirakul ART Junior Team +33.552
17 Ignazio D?Agosto KTR +34.977
18 Victor Sendin AV Formula +35.975
19 Louis Del?traz Josef Kaufmann Racing +36.861
20 Javier Merlo Manor MP Motorsport +41.720
21 Aurelien Panis RC Formula +42.505
22 Jack Aitken Fortec Motorsports +44.470
23 Alexander Albon KTR +48.188
24 Alfonso Celis Fortec Competition +50.593
25 Ryan Tveter Fortec Competition +54.172
26 Cedric Freiburghaus SL Formula +55.960
27 Andres Mendez Mark Burdett Racing +59.017
28 Nicolas Jamin ART Junior Team +59.653
29 Julio Moreno JTR Racing +1:00.241
30 Simon Stoller SL Formula +1:14.516
31 Jakub Smiechowski EuroInterpol +1:14.899
32 Miika Laiho PositiOne Motorsport +1:15.098
33 Patric Armand Fortec Motorsports +1:19.681
Not classified
Roman Beregech Fortec Competition +7 laps
Fran Rueda AV Formula +12 laps
Juan Branger JD Motorsport +14 laps
Roman Mavlanov RC Formula +14 laps
Alex Baron ART Junior Team +16 laps