Manitoban race car driver and Niverville native, David Richert, managed to claw his way back into the points after a disastrous start to the opening round of the Formula Renault Northern European Cup season. 32 drivers from 19 different countries provided a wealth of talent to the historic circuit of Monza in Italy for this weekend’s event.
Richert, driving for Inter Europol Competition, found himself in a challenging position right from the start. After completing just one lap in Practice 2, mechanical issues struck and Richert was forced to stop his car on track becoming a spectator for the rest of the session. The damage was to such an extent that, despite the team’s best efforts, Richert was also forced to miss the two qualifying sessions later that afternoon and therefore start both races from the back of the field with just one practice session under his belt.
Race 1 on Saturday got off to a chaotic start with Richert taking advantage of the situation to move up from 32nd to fight his way into the points and finish in 20th position. Race 2 on Sunday went in a similar fashion with Richert having to start 32nd but again moving forward to end up in 23rd position by the end of the race.
It’s obviously disappointing to miss out on qualifying and have to start at the back, but the more difficult aspect was missing out on all the valuable track time as that was my opportunity to gain familiarity with the circuit and catch up with the more experienced drivers. But I’m ecstatic with our race results this weekend despite the mechanical issues with the car, so we have some great things to build upon for next race. ~ David Richert
Richert will take a short break till the end of April before hitting the track again for a test at Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) and the 2nd race weekend of the season at Red Bull Ring (Austria) in May.
