SATISFACTORY WEEKEND AT SPA FRANCORCHAMPS
The second round of the 2014 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup was a case of mission accomplished for Matty as a 21st place finish in race one and an 18th place finish in race 2, gave way to the bigger picture at the end of the weekend.
With the main aim of entering the meeting being to provide the 18 year old driver with a better base knowledge of the 4.5 mile Spa Francorchamps circuit, Matty declared himself happy after three days of track action.
In total, the man from North East England completed 76 laps (almost the equivalent of two Formula One Grands Prix) around the Belgian course across two practice sessions, two qualifying sessions and two races and showed consistent improvement throughout.
Starting with a fastest lap time of 2:20.704 in free practice one, Matty’s fastest lap of the weekend came in Sunday’s second qualifying session in the shape of a 2:18.495, 2.3 faster than his Friday effort.
He also built on his race pace and in the second race, finished on the same pace as new teammate Louis Delatraz, who has been one of the front runners in the NEC championship.
Looking back on a productive weekend, Matty said: “Spa has a reputation as being a fearsome track and having never driven it before, I thought it a good idea to use one of my Eurocup entries to come and learn my way around before the NEC meeting in July.”
“After spending three days here, I am really pleased we did, as it is very much a track where the more you respect it and commit to it, the more you find in lap-time and performance, which is what I’ve been able to do as the weekend went on.”
“Qualifying was a struggle on both days and being 26th and 23rd wasn’t what I was hoping for as it put me right into the pack, although it has really helped me with my race craft with lots of overtakes being made.”
“In race 2 in particular, I made a terrible start and dropped three places off the line so to get back to 18th at the flag, I think I probably made the most overtakes I have ever done in the Renault, so I’ve got a good idea of how it behaves in battle.”
“I just really need to find those extra tenths to make sure I’m using that knowledge to go for the big points starting with the next NEC round at Hockenhiem in two weeks.”