ISR closed the Belgian F.Renault 3.5 weekend with a points finish in Race 2, an eight place clinched by Sergey Sirotkin. Christopher Zanella, on the team’s other car, crossed the line in P13. Both results where achieved thanks to two great recovery drives, after that qualifying had been quite difficult for the Czech outfit. After the morning timed session, Zanella was the team’s best placed driver on the grid in 14th. Unluckily, he stalled at the start of the race, rejoining in last position (P22) after his car was re-started in the pit lane. The Safety Car, deployed after a four-car crash at Eau Rouge, allowed the Swiss driver to catch the pack quickly, but from then on every place he gained was earned thanks to speed and racecraft. Christopher’s quick pace and a good pit-stop strategy by the team allowed him to climb to P15 and then, when two fellow competitors crashed out of the race, he was promoted to 13th place. Compared to Zanella, Sirotkin was starting further back in P20, but his getaway was good and allowed him to immediately overtake one car, then making the most of the Eau Rouge drama to get to 15th place. In his case too, the pit-stop strategy played a key role and thanks to a very quick lap sequence the Russian driver managed to climb to P11. He then started fighting with Webb and Martsenko for P10 and the last available point, and managed to overtake the brit. His comeback wasn’t over yet, as with two laps to go a crash at the front of the field allowed him to make up another couple of places, taking the flag in 8th.
Sergey Sirotkin: Q – P20; R2 – P8
“The result can be deemed very good, considering that we started from Row 10. Still, our pace in the race shows that with a better qualifying session our aims could have been much higher. Now it’s already time to think about the Moscow round, it’s my home race so I really want to get there in top form”.
Christopher Zanella: Q – P14; R2 – P13
“I’m sorry for the start, It was just a mistake by my side. I didn’t want any wheelspin so I was careful with the throttle, maybe too much. The car stalled, and I have to be grateful for the Safety-Car that was deployed on lap 1, because it allowed me to catch up with the others. Then it was a fun race, my pace was good and I could take advantage from mistakes by other drivers, but I’m not happy because without stalling I could have done better”.