Spa FR3.5: Stoffel Vandoorne claims home victory
Stoffel Vandoorne made up for a frustrating first Formula Renault 3.5 race at Spa by winning on home soil in race two on Sunday
The Belgian took the lead on the opening lap from Nico Muller, after both had outdragged slow-starting polesitter Kevin Magnussen off the line when the lights went out.
Following a restart for a multi-car crash at the top of Eau Rouge, Vandoorne controlled the race, while Magnussen pitted early from third in an attempt to jump the top two.
Vandoorne's Fortec team covered that strategy off just right, meaning that when he pitted a few laps later he rejoined just ahead of the championship leader.
As Muller fell out of contention during the stops that allowed Will Stevens into third, and when Magnussen fell away from Vandoorne the Briton challenged for second.
Stevens eventually got by on the approach to Les Combes, taking to the grass on the straight as Magnussen defended.
Magnussen then tried to hang on around the outside on the brakes, but he was forced to cut across the corner and slot in behind Stevens.
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Antonio Felix da Costa also jumped Muller during the stops, but he could not get on terms with the leaders and had to turn his focus to keeping the Monaco race winner at bay.
The top five were well clear of the rest of the field, where Carlos Sainz Jr and Nigel Melker - who had a rather embarrassing clash with Tech 1 team-mate Mikhail Aleshin earlier in the race - fought hard for sixth.
Their scrap brought Jazeman Jaafar into the equation, and shortly after Melker found a way into sixth, Sainz and Jaafar collided at Malmedy on the penultimate lap, putting both out.
Results - 21 laps:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Stoffel Vandoorne Fortec 47m06.630s
2. Will Stevens P1/Strakka + 4.536s
3. Kevin Magnussen DAMS + 6.203s
4. Antonio Felix da Costa Arden Caterham + 7.138s
5. Nico Muller Draco + 8.490s
6. Nigel Melker Tech 1 + 19.702s
7. Nikolay Martsenko Pons + 26.531s
8. Sergey Sirotkin ISR + 27.406s
9. Oliver Webb Fortec + 28.133s
10. Marco Sorensen Lotus + 29.203s
11. Matias Laine P1/Strakka + 31.278s
12. Pietro Fantin Arden Caterham + 32.463s
13. Christopher Zanella ISR + 33.444s
14. Mihai Marinescu Zeta + 42.661s
15. Norman Nato DAMS + 44.280s
16. Zoel Amberg Pons + 46.298s
17. Marlon Stockinger Lotus + 46.617s
Retirements:
Carlos Sainz Jr Zeta 19 laps
Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 19 laps
Carlos Huertas Carlin 17 laps
Mikhail Aleshin Tech 1 6 laps
Daniil Move SMP/Comtec 0 laps
Yann Cunha AV 0 laps
Andre Negrao Draco 0 laps
Arthur Pic AV 0 laps
Lucas Foresti SMP/Comtec 0 laps
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