SMP Racing junior driver Alexander Smolyar took second place in Race 2 of the fourth Formula Renault Eurocup round, which took place on June 1-2 in France at Circuit Paul Ricard.
According to the results of the qualifying session in the morning, Alexander started the race from third position. At the beginning of the race, he managed to overtake the rival ahead and get to second position. Smolyar successfully fended off the attacks of other drivers and finished second.In the first race, which took place on Saturday, the SMP Racing driver took fourth place. As a result of this weekend, Alexander Smolyar scored 30 points in total and reduced the gap from Viñtor Martins, the leader of the overall standings: now the difference is only 3 points - 119 for the Frenchman against 116 for the Russian.
“Today, I’ve had a better start and immediately moved up to second place, but I can’t say that the race was easy for me,” SMP Racing driver Alexander Smolyar said. "From the first lap to the finish line I felt the pressure from Victor Martins and I did my best to fend off the attacks coming from him as I knew perfectly that any mistake could bring me down to third position. But everything ended well, I managed to get closer to the leader of the championship, and before the break until the next round I took second place in the drivers standings with only three points behind.”
"Alexander has significantly gained quite a lot of stability and this weekend is proof of that," Petr Aleshin, the director of the SMP Racing junior program, added. “The second race was entirely under the pressure of an experienced rival, but Alexander calmly and successfully defended his position, winning important points for the championship.”
The fifth round of the Formula Renault Eurocup will take place on July 25-27 in Belgium at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
