EU 2.0: Series Hungaroring preview

Under starters order for the second half of the season

Budapest marks the start of the second half of the 2010 season in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. With a 30-point advantage, Estonia's Kevin Korjus, driving for Korainen Bros Motorsport, has built up a healthy lead in the championship. Behind him, the biggest threat to his title hopes are Interwetten's Luciano Bacheta and Tech 1 Racing's Arthur Pic, themselves separated by two points.

With each passing race, Kevin Korjus has grown steadily closer to the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 title. However, his rivals have shown no signs of surrender, and the end of the season could bring its fair share of surprises.

Nevertheless, the 17-year old Estonian looks cool under pressure. After a mixed weekend in Brno he knew exactly what was required of him at Magny-Cours with a devastating win in the rain on Saturday and another podium place on Sunday. With eight races already run, Kevin Korjus, who has finished every one of them in the points, can boast four wins from six podiums. The only spot on an otherwise clean sheet is that he has yet to score a single pole position.

In this area at least, Arthur Pic has shown that he is the real expert. Apart from the first race, in which he qualified second, the Frenchman has an unbroken run of seven pole positions. Winner on three occasions, he paid the price for three races devoid of points. If he can pull off a faultless second half of the season, he could still pip Korjus to the post.

But before taking on the task of dislodging the championship leader, Pic must first contend with Luciano Bacheta. Second in the overall points thanks to his dependable approach, the British driver is still looking for his first win of the season, even if he has set foot on the podium on four occasions.

Epsilon Euskadi's Giovanni Venturini's win at Magny-cours has increased his determination to upset the natural order. The Italian put himself back on track after a difficult start to the season. It took him some time to find the right set up for his car. Now that he has experienced the thrill of victory, the Epsilon Euskadi driver could well be the surprise of the season.

On Budapest's serpentine circuit, the Manor Motorsport and Atech Grand Prix teams, no strangers to Formula Renault 2.0 UK, will line up on the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 starting grid. For the Hungarian public, it will be the perfect occasion to support countryman, Atech Grand Prix's Tamás Pál Kiss.

Leader of the Formula Renault 2.0 UK championship, 19-year old Kiss dreams of following in the footsteps of Zsolt Baumgartner to become the second Hungarian ever to progress to Formula 1. It is with this goal in mind that he moved to the UK at 17. He returns to his home country for the Hungarian round of the World Series by Renault hoping to shine in front of his people. With three wins to his name in the UK so far this season, Kiss has nothing to lose, but everything to play for in at the Hungaroring circuit. There will be some good odds offered this weekend.

-source: wsr