Matthieu Vaxiviere (SMP Racing) wins Race 2 at Spa-Francorchamps 22 May 2016 – Immediate Release
Blanca de Foronda / Formula V8 3.5 | 22.5.16 | Aktuálně
F 3,5 2016
Matthieu Vaxiviere (SMP Racing) scored an hard-fought win in Race 2 ofthe Formula V8 3.5 weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. A torrential rainfallhit the Belgian venue throughout the day causing multiple safety-carsituations. The AVF pairing of Tom Dillmann and Alfonso Celis Jr.completed the podium in second and third place respectively.The start of the race was given behind the safety-car due to the excessiveprecipitations - Race direction opted for the safest possible approach.
In anearly surprise, Louis Delétraz (Fortec Motorspots) got stuck on the grid. The restartwas given on lap 4 with Vitor Baptista (RP Motorsport) going wide at LaSource while Dillmann led Roy Nissany (Lotus), Aurélien Panis (ArdenMotorsport), Vaxiviere, Celis Jr and René Binder (Lotus).On lap 5, Panis tried to go for second place on Nissany at Les Combes, but lostbraking point and had to yield to the Israeli driver. On lap 6, the pit windowopened with Celis, Matevos Isaakyan (SMP Racing), Egor Orudzhev (ArdenMotorsport) and Giuseppe Cipriani (Durango) as the early takers.In the meantime, Dillmann, Nissany, Vaxiviere and Pietro Fittipaldi (FortecMotorsports) all completed their pit-stops while Panis led in front of Binder.
Withthe safety-car on-track, a hard contact involved Johnny Cecotto (RPmotorsport), who hit Nissany from behind at Raidillon. Both drivers were forcedto retire.The race went back underway on lap 11, with Panis forced to make his pit-stoplike Binder and Yu Kanamaru (Teo Martin Motorsport). Dillmann cruised back tothe lead in front of Vaxiviere, but the championship leader ended up spinning atLes Combes, settling for the runner-up position.Vaxiviere is the sixth different winner in the first three rounds held by theFormula V8 3.5 series this season. With his second place, Dillmann held ontothe championship lead while his Mexican team-mate, reserve driver in SaharaForce India, delivered his first podium. In fourth place, Baptista captured his firstrookie win. The next round for the 2016 championship will be on the 25th and26th of June at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet.
QUOTES
Matthieu Vaxiviere (SMP Racing)
"It was a tough race, and we managed it quite well without making mistakes.We had a good strategy and I'm happy because we finally got the victory. Thismorning I experienced some clutch issues but now I'm happy for the win and weare already focused on Paul Ricard for more success".
Tom Dillmann (AVF)
"I think we were pretty fast at the beginning of the race when it was not so wet,we had a good call in the pits but I did not have enough speed on the straight, Icouldn't go flat out, but it's ok. Another podium, more points and we are stillleading both championships".
Alfonso Celis Jr (AVF)
"I have been fighting for this since the beginning of the season, but for manyreasons we couldn't catch this result. I think that after the hard work made bythe team in these two years, also behind the scenes, this is a well-deservedresult. I'm pleased of the result especially because it came with the rain. I puteverything together without making mistakes. I hope this day will be the start ofa better rest of the season".
Adrian Valles, AVF Team Principal
"It was a tough race, with the drivers having a difficult time keeping the cars ontrack.At one point, I thought it was better to put a red flag as drivers wherecomplaining a lot about how tough it was. In the end, it has been a good choiceto restart, we had an exciting race, but it was a shame for us because Tom lostthe lead. On the other hand, we have been lucky to keep at least second place.I'm really really happy for Alfonso, he kept a good pace on the wet to score hisfirst podium finish and I hope he could gain more positions in the standings fromthe next races".
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