Good news came for the AVF stable at Budapest as the team returned in action in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 at the Hungaroring venue, close to the country’s capital. The Spanish squad, led by Adrián Vallés, made its way back to the points zone thanks to a sixth place secured by Henrique Chaves in race 1. The Portuguese racer, at his third season under the AVF banner, completed an awesome comeback drive being forced to start from row 9 by a track limits penalty that deprived him of his fastest mark in qualifying. Henrique put up an exceptional showing to avoid the many contacts that became a constant feature in all three heats. On a track where it’s almost impossible to overtake, Axel Matus had his weekend conditioned by qualifying and ended up with a 22nd, a 26th and a 23rd place. The third AVF car was driven by Australian Thomas Randle, who was called by Vallés and made his debut in the European series promoted by Renault Sport. Randle quickly got in touch with the new environment and proceeded to secure a top-10 finish in the third and final race of the weekend.
Adrian Valles
“We went back to action after a long break determined to get a good result. After struggling a bit on street circuits like Pau and Monaco, we went back on-track on a more conventional venue even though one, the Hungaroring, where it’s always really difficult to overtake. For this reason, the results scored by Henrique and Thomas really worth a lot when put into perspective. In addition, Chaves had his weekend conditioned by the cancellation of some laptimes that would have helped him to fight for the podium. I was also really satisfied that Randle, making his debut with us, quickly found the right confidence, improving his results and eventually entering the top-10. Axel wasn’t really lucky because the first qualifying session was disrupted by heavy rain which caused several interruptions. It is also not easy to manage a three-race weekend but I’m satisfied with the progress made.”