(Interwetten.com RacingTeam - Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup – 01. Juliy 2012)
Following an incredible battle on the Nürburgring, Melville McKee and his team Interwetten.com Racing had every reason to celebrate their first Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 podium place.
No less than 30 positions were made good by the young Brit on Sunday who received the well deserved trophy for second place with cheers by his team. “Absolutely crazy!” Team manager Michael Schneider is thrilled. „We knew all along that Melville was more than capable to compete with the best but he outdid himself in today’s incredible performance.”
„Most of the racing series wouldn’t even have as many participants as I overtook today“, jokes the delighted runner up after the extraordinary race. At the start in position 32, he had left 11 competitors behind him alone in the first lap. The fifth lap saw his next leap from 18th place, overtaking a further eight pilots. Just one more lap onwards, he was ranking sixth and in the next one, the team couldn’t believe their eyes when he shot past the pits in second place. “It all happened so fast. At times I didn’t even know what position I was in and couldn’t believe it when I read my name in second place on the display!” Furth on in the race, he left the field behind and made good another two seconds to the lead.
„Track conditions certainly played their part, allowing me this place on the podium but the team‘s tactical decision to send me into the race with slicks proved to be very smart“, the Brit explains modestly. “The entire team played their part for this success, so everybody can be proud of this great achievement”, the team manager adds.
Guilherme Silva, after celebrating his first Formula Renault 2.0 ALPS podium place as a third a week ago, had the chance of a podium place again this weekend. The Brasilian convinced particularly in the qualifying with a very good fifth and a ninth starting place. His sixth place was as good as secure on Saturday when a competitor pushed him off the track in the last lap. “This manoeuvre was entirely unnecessary and cost me my best placement in the Eurocup so far”, a disgruntled Guilherne reports. On Sunday he turned unlucky again and lost positions in the tense situations of the race. He did however make up on lost ground after each disappointment, finishing the final race of the weekend with a good tenth place.
Timmy Hansen’s weekend did not go according to plan at all. A duel with Jordan King in the first race damaged his car’s front, forcing the Swede, not in best of health, to withdraw. A deterioration of his health conditions resulted in premature departure from the Eifel before Sunday’s race. “It just got worse by the day. As much as I would have loved to drive, it would just have been be irresponsible in this condition.”
Let’s hope the Swede will be fully recovered and back in action for the next race in Moscow in two weeks (15th-16th July). After Melville’s performance, the entire team is highly motivated and can’t wait for the next challenge. A trip to the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben for the NEC is scheduled prior to that from 7th to 8th July.