16 year old Sandy Stuvik’s debut in the Formula Renault EuroCup went above all expectations, with the young Thai racer fighting for points from the onset at the Motorland circuit in Spain last weekend.
Starting from 19th place on the grid last Saturday, Sandy took advantage of a first lap pile up on the straight and quickly moved himself up to 11th place. Several laps then went under Safety Car, while the start area was cleaned up from damaged cars. He then had a good restart and kept up with the lead group until a brake balance problem kicked in and slowed him down by several seconds per lap. Sandy then had some laps where he traded positions back and forth, but as he had to break much earlier than normal he lost 3-4 positions.
A pile-up on the opening lap of Race 1 on Saturday enabled Sandy to move through the field.
By the end he took the checkered flag in 11th place, much higher than the team had hoped for, but still frustrated at having lost out on a points position.
Carlos Saintz won the race ahead of Frijns and Riberas, while sitter Will Stevens went out of the race mid way through
The second race of the EuroCup started late in the afternoon Sunday and after a dismal qualifying run in the morning Stuvik found himself starting from 31st of the 34 car grid, all the way at the back of the pack. His qualifying time was a mere 1.6 second behind pole sitter Stevens, which goes to show how fiercely competitive this European junior formula series is.
Sandy Stuvik sits in his car on the grid prior to the start of Race 1 at the Motorland circuit in Spain, Saturday, April 16.
Sandy had a good start and immediately passed several cars going into the first lap, this time with no major incident. He started overtaking one or two cars each lap and by the 5th lap he was up to 18th place.
The race was fought hard, but fair, up and down the long grid of cars, with Will Stevens leading the race from pole position, his second of the this race weekend. Carlos Saintz ran second and Robin Frijns third. Sandy managed to get up to 16th position, by lap 10, but all the late breaking to overtake others took its toll on his front tires. Towards the end of the race the flat spotted front tires vibrated so much he had to concede 2 places on the final lap, finally taking the checkered flag in 18th place.
The young Thai was happy with having finished both his first 2 EuroCup races and without any major incidents. The team had hoped for a mid-field performance and Sandy managed to deliver with excellent results.
From here the young racer will go straight to the Navarra Circuit for the final official 2 days of testing, in preparation for the next round at Spa Francorchamps Circuit in Belgium on April 31 and May 1.
Note: For more on Sandy Stuvik turn to Automania on page 38.
