Lotus wins Motorland Aragón race 2 with Matthieu Vaxiviere

The Lotus team had lots to celebrate in race 2 of the Motorland Aragón weekend, the first of the 2015 Formula Renault 3.5 championship. The Czech-based squad cruised to a sensational win: Frenchman Matthieu Vaxiviere put together a winning last-corner move on Nyck De Vries and crossed the line in first for the delight of the team's whole stable.

It was a wet race which began with a safety-car start and was red-flagged on lap 5. The emotions flew, and Meindert van Buuren was also part of the excitement. The Dutchman delivered a massive comeback from the 13th spot on the grid, passing Dean Stoneman with a last-gasp move to end the day in 6th position.

The next round for the Formula Renault 3.5 championship, part of the World Series Renault, will be on the 24th of May in the spectacular frame of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix.

Matthieu Vaxiviere (#9) Qualy 2: P2 1’41”633. Race 2: P1 19 laps 1:06’48”647

“I'm extremely happy for this win. It's been an incredibly exciting race and we couldn't wait for this moment to come. The Lotus team delivered me with a perfect racecar. It hasn't been easy to manage the safety-car start and all the water that poured down afterwards, but the team helped me with a perfect pit-stop that made me recover 8 tenths of a second on De Vries. During the last lap, relying on the fact that I had previously saved my tires, I went for a move that I had carefully planned, making it to a phenomenal win”.

Meindert van Buuren (#10) Qualy 2: P13 1’42”337. Race 2: P6 + 29”111

“Today's race was conditioned by qualifying: after starting from the 13th position, we knew we couldn't fight for the front like happened yesterday. The rain has clearly conditioned how the race unfolded, and I managed to recover positions as well as valuable points that helped the Lotus to clinch second place in the teams standings. In addition to that, it was the right call from race control to stop the race. It was really hard to control the car in that kind of conditions”.

Lotus Team