A wet weekend at the Motorland Aragon circuit saw Red Bull F1 reserve Daniel Ricciardo convert two pole positions into two podium finishes and top the points standings after Formula Renault 3.5’s first meeting of the year.
In race one Carlin’s Mikhail Aleshin got a clean start despite the conditions to grab the lead into turn one and win ahead of Pons’ Daniel Zampieri and Tech 1’s Ricciardo.
An error by the Australian gave second to Zampieri, with the Comtec pairing of Esteban Guerrieri and Stefano Coletti next in line behind him.
But they were unable to sustain their challenge and, following a safety car and an incident-packed interlude, Fortec’s Jon Lancaster and Lotus’ Nelson Panciatici rounded at the top five at the flag. Comtec’s Greg Mansell came eighth.
In race, two Lancaster’s team-mate Sten Pentus took the win ahead of P1’s Jan Charouz and Ricciardo – but the result on the track did not survive the stewards’ attentions as Charouz was disqualified for not having enough fuel left in his tank after the race.
Once again Ricciardo lost the lead in turn one, and he was further delayed in the pits. The leading trio were untroubled to the line, while behind them Nathanaël Berthon was working his way up the field to fourth at the line – and third when Charouz was excluded.
Neither British driver finished, with Lancaster exiting after just two laps and Mansell completing 22 of 26. The next race is due to take place at Spa-Francorchamps on April 30-May 2.
For full results and series standings, visit the Renault Sport website here.