Martins repeats in qualifying

Like the previous day, Victor Martins won the pole in the waning minutes of the session with a lap of 1:42.705s with Alexander Smolyar (R-ace GP) just 0.036s behind. Rookies Petr Ptáček and Alex Quinn (Arden Motorsport) shared row two with Lorenzo Colombo (MP Motorsport) and Oscar Piastri completing row three.

Qualifying 2 - Starting grid

The title race is back on the boil

Victor Martins maintained the lead at the start while Alexander Smolyar dropped to seventh place after a sluggish launch off the line. Behind the leader it was Petr Ptáček and Oscar Piastri, who started from P6 on the grid, Alex Quinn and Caio Collet (R-ace GP), who also picked up three places on the opening lap.

As he did on Saturday, Victor Martins steadily pulled away from the field while Lorenzo Colombo and Alexander Smolyar made their way past Caio Collet in the first few laps before overtaking Alex Quinn after the midway point of the race.

Never threatened, Victor Martins took the honours with a seven-second margin of victory over Petr Ptáček. After his lost podium on Saturday following a penalty, the Czech driver bounced back to score his and Bhaitech Racing best result in the Formula Renault Eurocup in holding off Oscar Piastri.

Lorenzo Colombo and Alexander Smolyar rounded out the top five ahead of a field that saw a ton of action on the final lap. While fighting for sixth place, Alex Quinn and Caio Collet both went through the gravel at turn two. Ugo de Wilde (JD Motorsport) managed to pass his two rivals. Caio Collet, Federico Malvestiti (Bhaitech Racing), Leonardo Lorandi (JD Motorsport) and wild-card entry Franco Colapinto (FA Racing by Drivex) completed the top ten while Alex Quinn claimed the final point on offer.

Race 2 - Drivers classification - Teams classification

Quotes

Victor Martins (MP Motorsport) : “It has been a perfect weekend, because we couldn’t do better than two pole positions, two wins and two fastest laps. We have worked hard since the start of the season. It is paying off and our confidence is high heading to the final two rounds of the year. We are hitting our stride and we have the right mindset. Things didn’t go well for me last year at Hockenheim, but I need to move on because the car, the team and the stakes are no longer the same. We have to remain focused to carry this momentum and reach our target.”

Petr Ptáček (Bhaitech Racing) : “I am pretty pleased with the weekend despite losing the podium result after the race yesterday. We started both races from row two and this second place is our best result of the season. It is really positive because the team was able to show its potential on a track like Barcelona. We had a difficult start to the season as two rookies in a team making its Formula Renault debut. We have made driving mistakes and encountered small issues, but we have put all of that behind us. The goal is to continue to push hard and we will see how it goes at Hockenheim and Abu Dhabi !”

Oscar Piastri (R-ace GP) : “Like they did at the pre-season tests, MP Motorsport proved that their cars are quite comfortable at Barcelona. We knew coming in that this weekend would be more competitive than the last few, but we had the potential to compete for the pole. Small mistakes prevented us from optimizing it, but the race was really positive. I got a good start, maybe my best of the year ! It was perfect for moving from sixth to third place on a track where overtaking is quite difficult. I did a good job to limit the damage ahead of next weekend at Hockenheim, which is a track I did well at last year. Then there will be Abu Dhabi, a track I’ve already been a few times in F4 and GP3, so I am quite confident prior to the final stretch of the season.”

*Results subject to confirmation following technical and sporting checks.