NEC: Series Hockenheim summary

Double NEC victory for KEO Racing at Hockenheim Historic

Ludwig Ghidi and his team KEO Racing have managed to get the maximum result out of the first round of the Northern European Cup on the crowded and summery Formula One track. The first two races of the Northern European Cup were full of action, with many fights for position in both races on the Hockenheimring.

The first official event in the calendar of the Northern European Cup started on Friday the 16th, with the qualification procedure of 30 minutes. Although the session was rather a smooth one for the seventeen present cars; the final result was quite drastically changed by race control. Three cars were put back by five positions on the starting grid, for nonconformity with the cup's regulations. The revised starting resulted in a pole position for Julian Eisenreich and SL Formula (1.39.084).

Drivers such as Ludwig Ghidi and Jeroen Mul had both made a great start during the first race on Saturday morning. Eisenreich maintains the lead for the first part of the 25-minute race, but young Belgian Ghidi made considerable steps in the last phase of the race, and progressed with 2 to 3 hundrest of a second per lap towards Eisenreich. The driver in Chassis Nr 1 manages to overtake the German in the tenth lap of the race and Jeroen Mul followed his example by taking third position from KTR's Mikkel Mac.

When the flag drops, it is Ghidi who takes his first win for KEO Racing, followed by Julian Eisenreich and Jeroen Mul. In the B-series, also referred to as Formula Renault 2000, Dear Schilling collects his first NEC trophy, accompanied by Frank Suntjens and team member Daniel Schilling.

As a result of new regulations, the second starting grid for the race on Sunday morning was formed by the second fastest qualification time on the Friday. The first few laps of the second race were quite a set back for the teams of Astromega and Van Amersfoort Racing, as their drivers Dejonghe, Mul and Stuart had to leave the race ahead of time.

A lot of action takes place midfield. Jakub Schmiechowski, Johann Ledermair and Michele Di Martino make their way to the front by overtaking many other competitors. In between the many switches of position, Daniel Schilling looses his car and spins off track in the ninth lap. Frank Suntjens and Tony Kowalewski take some positions in gratitude and are set for the 3rd and 4th place in the Formula Renault 2000 standings. Surprise of the day is Johann Ledermair, who takes the lead from Dear Schilling and third place overall.

After 25 minutes of racing passed, Ludwig Ghidi has managed a full lead from start to finish. Danish Mikkel Mac brings home the first podium for Belgian KTR. Jakub Smiechowski also makes his debut on the NEC podium for his Polish team Kochanski Motorsport. Belgian Ghidi now takes the lead in the FR2.0 standings with 60 points, where Dear Schillings takes the same position in the FR 2000 standings with 54.

The next round of the Northern European Cup will follow shortly during the Spring Grand Prix on the circuit of Brno, Czech Republic, from the 24th until the 25th of April.

-source: nec