Manitoba race car driver and Niverville native, David Richert, was smiling this past weekend as he represented Canada at the Eurocup debut race in Spain. The field of drivers included 15 different nationalities from all over the world.
Eurocup Formula Renault race start at the Motorland Aragon race circuit.
The Eurocup Formula Renault season began in front of 51,000 spectators in hot and sunny conditions with three races in Spain at the Motorland Aragon race circuit.
Richert’s weekend got off to a difficult start after a 160km/h high speed spin during qualifying damaged his tires causing a significant vibration in the car for the first race. After battling through the vibration, Richert managed to place 20th.
The second race proved to be an adventurous one as rain began to fall around the circuit and caught many drivers by surprise with conditions changing drastically from lap to lap. Russian driver, Nerses Isaakyan, found himself rolling his car off of the race track. Richert was able to improve his result from the first race by finishing 18th.
Richert’s finishing result in the third race was 22nd, which wasn’t indicative of the thrilling battle he had with American driver, David Porcelli. Richert and Porcelli traded quick laps throughout the race which eventually saw Porcelli cross the finish line just 8 tenths of a second ahead of Richert.
“Obviously the spin in qualifying was not ideal but I’m very happy with the steady progress we made throughout the event, said David Richert. “In fact, I believe my fastest lap time of the weekend was the very last lap of the last race, so I’m confident we can compete with this group of drivers and slowly work our way up the field. Now my mind has already shifted to Monaco as that’s going to be an absolutely unbelievable experience.”
Richert’s next race will take place in Monte Carlo at the luxurious Monaco Grand Prix from May 26-29.
