OSCAR PIASTRI CROWNED 2019 FORMULA RENAULT EUROCUP CHAMPION

MEDIA RELEASE/Oscar Piastri – Photo: Supplied

Australian racer Oscar Piastri has become the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup champion after two gruelling races in the heat of the Middle East as the series closed out at Yas Marina.
 
With a 13.5-point lead coming into the weekend, the Melbournian knew he could not relax, but a superb performance under the lights for race one where he secured his seventh victory of the season put him one step closer to the title.
 
Lining up alongside Victor Martins, he started well and took the lead into turn one. Pulling out an initial gap until Martins passed his team-mate, Lorenzo Colombo, Oscar then managed the race despite late pressure from his rival, giving him the upper hand heading into the final day of the season.
 
That result meant Martins needed victory in race two and, with Oscar only having to finish in the top seven, he had a margin to play with and drove a mature and measured race. Not fighting too hard as Colombo made a move, he also kept out of any dramas when both Matteo Nannini and Caio Collet drew alongside, before settling into fourth place for the duration of the contest, securing the title in the process.
 
The result also ensured a clean sweep of titles for R-ace GP as it wrapped up the Drivers’, Teams’, and Rookies’ Championships in the process – a just reward for all of the hard work put in by the team throughout the year.
 
After some time relaxing with friends and family after a tough season of competition, Oscar will make announcements on his exciting plans for the 2020 season in due course.

“It is starting to sink in, though until I hold the trophy it won’t fully sink in, but these are happy times!” said Oscar.
 
“Race one wasn’t too stressful until Victor got into second. I didn’t know what our pace was going to be like but once he got past Colombo our lap times were pretty even so that reassured me that we stood a reasonable chance of holding on. But when he is chasing you down, you’re counting the minutes and laps and trying not to make any mistakes and we did enough.
 
“Coming into race day I was more relaxed. Qualifying was alright and the first couple of laps were pretty ordinary. I saw Nannini was coming and when it was three-wide down the straight I thought ‘I don’t need to get involved in this’, let them do what they needed to, and played it safe.
 
“It is awesome for R-ace GP to win all three titles. You can’t get much better than that can you? Without them, none of us in the team would have had the success we did, so I cannot thank them enough for this year.”

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