RENÉ BINDER (LOTUS) SEALS MAIDEN WORLD SERIES WIN IN MONZA
René Binder cruised to a well-deserved maiden World Series Formula V8 3.5 win today in race 1 at Monza becoming the fourth different winner out of six races held this season. Although Roy Nissany (RP Motorsport) had crossed the line in front, it was the Austrian to prevail as his Israeli contender was penalized 5 seconds for cutting the fist chicane at the start. As a consequence he dropped down to P2 while the podium was completed by Matevos Isaakyan (SMP Racing by AVF). Nelson Mason (Teo Martin Motorsport) was the best rookie of the race in sixth place overall.
Pole sitter Pietro Fittipaldi was off to a slow start when the lights went off and was swallowed by the pack. Nissany sailed to the front but went long under braking and cut the first chicane which would cost him a penalty. Binder kept the virtual lead in second place while a great battle eventually handed Isaakyan third place after fighting his way with SMP Racing by AVF team-mate Egor Orudzhev, who briefly had the position.
In the end, the Russian also had to fend the attacks of Alfonso Celis Jr (Fortec Motorsports), who ultimately snatched fourth place and bolstered his championship lead with 73 points in total. A late pass decided the Rookie Trophy winner with Mason passing Diego Menchaca (Fortec Motorsports) for sixth place overall. Yu Kanamaru (RP Motorsport) who is celebrating his 23rd birthday today, did not start as he came back to the pit-lane after the formation lap.
Local driver Giuseppe Cipriani (Il Barone Rampante) delivered a great performance at home by moving up to P6 after the first corner and finishing ninth. After the race He was penalized and moved on P10. On the other hand, Fittipaldi was forced to retire during the penultimate lap. He suffered from a right rear puncture due to contact with Damiano Fioravanti (RP Motorsport) on lap 1. The Roman then retired on lap 6.
Race 2 is scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday May 14th at 11:46.
René Binder (Lotus)
“Thank you to the whole team for having rebuilt my car after yesterday’s qualifying crash. At the start, Roy went straight and then I knew he was going to get a penalty so I simply controlled the race. Winning with this car on this track feels amazing, I’m delighted I could win my first race here”.
Roy Nissany (RP Motorsport)
“Yesterday we had some problems with brakes and we made a small gamble before the race. I struggled at the first corner. It was not easy to control the car on the LDF configuration. I tried to make a gap of more than 5 seconds but René did a good job. Congratulations to him”.
Matevos Isaakyan (SMP Racing by AVF)
“The start was quite good as I managed almost grab second place. The car was hard to drive and I made some mistakes that gave Egor the chance to pass me. But I was faster than him so I managed to get the position back”.
Nelson Mason (Teo Martin Motorsport)
“It was a really good race. We had a bad start and we had to recover, especially considering my starting position. The car was really strong in race conditions and we were expecting it but the real problem was getting around the LDF cars, they were really quick in the straights. I made some good moves and now we have a point to build on for tomorrow”.
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