4
N
Now that the first three meetings of the
F.Renault 2.0 ALPS championship have
been completed we have a clearer idea
of the overall standings. After the
events at Vallelunga, Imola and Spa,
everyone is looking forward to the
fourth meeting, which will be held on
the very fast circuit at Monza over the
weekend of 7th July. The meeting in
Lombardy marks the halfway stage in
the 2013 championship, currently led
by the debutant, Antonio Fuoco. The
young Calabrian driver, who races for
the Prema Junior team and is a
member of the Ferrari Driver Academy,
has already impressed with his
approach, an innate sense of speed
that helped him to achieve three pole
positions, and an excellent overall
understanding of the race situation.
Fuoco, who is 17, has amassed 108
points thanks to an electrifying start at
Vallelunga, where he finished in second
and first place, the two victories at
Imola and a third place in the second
race at Spa. The only time he failed to
finish in the points was the first race at
Spa, but that was due to a penalty he
incurred for having caused an accident
involving Egor Orudzhev and Luca
Ghiotto.
If Fuoco is the surprise package, there
are two equally fast drivers who already
have experience in single-seater racing
right behind him. Bruno Bonifacio,
racing for Prema Powerteam, debuted
in ALPS with a win at Vallelunga after
two pole positions, which he would
almost certainly have followed up with
another victory on the same circuit had
it not been for the accident with Nyck
De Vries. The 18 year old Brazilian
continued to show consistent form,
finishing fourth and third at Imola and
again at Spa where, after taking both
pole positions and producing a
commanding performance to win the
first race, he also finished as runner up
in the second. Thanks to these results,
Bonifacio accumulated 95 points,
leaving him just 13 adrift of the
championship leader Fuoco.
Currently lying in third place with 69
points is Ghiotto. The 18 year old from
the Veneto region was runner up in the
second race at Vallelunga before
achieving an excellent win in the
second race at Spa. In Belgium Ghiotto
reacted brilliantly to the disappointment
of race 1, where he was unable to
avoid Orudzhev’s car blocking the track
ahead of him, and was forced to retire.
Ghiotto continued to finish well in the
remaining races, and remains in touch
with the leading pair.
Further down the standings, in fourth
place, is the talented French driver
Pierre Gasly. In his second year in the
Renault competition after impressing
in the French Formula Academy, the
Tech 1 Racing driver collected an
excellent series of results at Vallelunga
and Imola (third, fourth, second and
fourth) and will definitely be one to
watch during subsequent Fast Lane
Promotion competitions. Gasly is
currently on 57 points, ahead of his
compatriot William Vermont. The
representative of ARTA Engineering is
one of the more experienced drivers
and he has had a first class impact on
the ALPS championship. After
withdrawing from the first race at
Vallelunga, Vermont went on to
achieve sixth, third and second places.
Neither he nor Gasly took part at Spa
due to their involvement with the
Renault 2.0 Eurocup, but he is
expected to take part in other ALPS
races. Fifth place is occupied by
Guilherme Silva from the Koiranen GP
team, who is in his second year in this
category and was among the points at
Vallelunga and Spa, where he was also
involved in an accident in race 2. Silva
also missed the meeting at Imola due
to his commitments with the European
championship. Other drivers
occupying positions in the top ten
include Nyck De Vries of Koiranen GP,
a product of the Junior McLaren
program and a rising star of
international motorsports, Matthieu
Vaxiviere, of Tech 1 Racing, and two
interesting debutants: Jakub Dalewski,
who made a big impact in Imola and
Spa in the JD Motorsport, and Jenzer
Motorsport’s Kevin Joerg, who grew in
stature with each race.
Indivual results
Fuoco
Vallelunga 1 2°
Vallelunga 2 1°
Imola 1
1
°
Imola 2
1
°
Spa 1
14
°
Spa 2
3
°
Bonifacio
Vallelunga 1
1
°
Vallelunga 2
Ritirato
Imola 1
4
°
Imola 2
3
°
Spa 1
1
°
Spa 2
2
°
Ghiotto
Vallelunga 1
5
°
Vallelunga 2
2
°
Imola 1
6
°
Imola 2
6
°
Spa 1
Ritirato
Spa 2
1
°
