Stefano Comini and Stian Paulsen each claimed victories during the first 2014 SEAT Leon Eurocup meeting at the Nürburgring in Germany last weekend (3-4 May).
Norway’s Paulsen secured victory in the second race and a podium finish in the first to lead the driver’s standings.
The first race of the season was dominated by Switzerland’s Comini, who secured the first pole position of the season in the morning and went on to win the race in the afternoon, leading throughout all 12 laps.
JSB Competition’s Julien Briché, who finished second, tried to chase down the Swiss but wasn’t able to catch him. There were battles all the way down the field, with Paulsen gaining positions at the start to fight with Monlau Competición’s Fran Rueda and Target Competition’s Jordi Oriola for the final step of the podium. It was finally the Norwegian who finished third.
Above: Norway’s Stian Paulsen gets ready to race
The second race was action-packed from the start. A collision between Target Competition’s Oriola and Baporo Motorsport’s Amalia Vinyes sent Vinyes’s car into a spin.
Pujolar Racing’s Thomas Fjordbach had a great start to snatch the lead from pole-sitter Lorenzo Veglia, but was forced to retire two laps later following an incident with the Italian. Meanwhile, Paulsen and Julien Briché tried to stop Veglia from pulling away, until damage caused JSB Competition’s Briché to fall down the order.
A lap later, Veglia was given a drive-through penalty for the incident with Fjordbach, which meant he had to give up the lead.
Paulsen moved up to first and didn’t let that position go for the remainder of the race. Behind him, Baporo Motorsport’s Manuel Gião was safe in second position. His team-mate Pol Rosell, Target Competition’s Jordi Oriola, Monlau Competición’s Fran Rueda and Gaspar Racing’s Ferenc Ficza, were all fighting for third position, with Oriola coming out on top. The Spaniard opened up a gap and secured the final step of the podium; however, he was later given a 30-second penalty for the incident at the start with Vinyes, which demoted him to tenth in the final classification.
The winner of race one, Comini, finished thirteenth.
Paulsen now leads the SEAT Leon Eurocup with 16 points, followed by round one’s winner, Stefano Comini, who is tied in second place with Spaniard Fran Rueda, both on 13 points.
The second meeting of the season will take place between 23 and 25 May at the Salzburgring in Austria together with the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).
Round one results
- Stefano Comini (#25), Target Competition, 26:09.222
- Julien Briché (#2), JSB Competition, + 5.497
- Stian Paulsen (#34), Stian Paulsen Racing, + 11.162
- Fran Rueda (#28), Monlau Competición, + 19.105
- Jordi Oriola (#33), Target Competition, + 21.132
- Manuel Giao (#5), Baporo Motorsport, + 21.457
- Pol Rosell (#12), Baporo Motorsport, + 21.711
- Lorenzo Veglia (#7), Target Competition, + 25.523
- Ferenc Ficza (#55), Gaspar Racing, + 32.169
- Jose Monroy (#88), Veloso Motorsport, + 32.792
- Stefano Zanini (#69), Dinamic SRL, + 40.137
- Marco Pellegrini (#67), Dinamic SRL, + 41.535
- Edina Bus (#87), B3R Hungary KFT, + 46.298
- Juergen Schmarl (#11), Target Competition, + 47.204
- Amalia Vinyes (#13), Baporo Motorsport, + 1:11.550
- Marie Baus-Coppens (#21), JSB Competition, + 1:41.587
Not classified
- Alex Carbonell (#4), Monlau Competición, + 2 laps
- Gabor Weber (#1), B3R Hungary KFT, + 4 laps
- Marcos De Diego (#20), Pujolar Racing, + 5 laps
- Thomas Fjordbach (#54), Pujolar Racing, + 11 laps
Round two results
- Stian Paulsen (#34), Stian Paulsen Racing, 26:26.866
- Manuel Giao (#5), Baporo Motorsport, + 0.926
- Fran Rueda (#28), Monlau Competición, + 12.852
- Ferenc Ficza (#55), Gaspar Racing, + 13.130
- Lorenzo Veglia (#7), Target Competition, + 17.229
- Marcos De Diego (#20), Pujolar Racing, + 21.481
- Juergen Schmarl (#11), Target Competition, + 22.440
- Marie Baus-Coppens (#21), JSB Competition, + 31.463
- Edina Bus (#87), B3R Hungary KFT, + 35.533
- Jordi Oriola (#33), Target Competition, + 40.266
- Alex Carbonell (#4), Monlau Competición, + 1:08.089
- Marco Pellegrini (#67), Dinamic SRL, + 1 lap
- Stefano Comini (#25), Target Competition, + 1 lap
Not classified
- Pol Rosell (#12), Baporo Motorsport, + 3 laps
- Stefano Zanini (#69), Dinamic SRL, + 4 laps
- Julien Briché (#2), JSB Competition, + 7 laps
- Jose Monroy (#88), Veloso Motorsport, + 9 laps
- Thomas Fjordbach (#54), Pujolar Racing, + 10 laps
- Gabor Weber (#1), B3R Hungary KFT, + 10 laps
- Amalia Vinyes (#13), Baporo Motorsport, + 12 laps
Drivers’ Standings
- Stian Paulsen (#34), Stian Paulsen Racing, 16 points
- Stefano Comini (#25), Target Competition, 13 points
- Fran Rueda (#28), Monlau Competición, 13 points
- Manuel Giao (#5), Baporo Motorsport, 11 points
- Julien Briché (#2), JSB Competition, 9 points
- Lorenzo Veglia (#7), Target Competition, 5 points
- Ferenc Ficza (#55), Gaspar Racing, 5 points
- Jordi Oriola (#33), Target Competition, 4 points
- Marcos De Diego (#20), Pujolar Racing, 3 points
- Pol Rosell (#12), Baporo Motorsport, 2 points
- Juergen Schmarl (#11), Target Competition, 2 points
- Marie Baus – Coppens (#21), JSB Competition , 1 points
- José Monroy (#88), Veloso Motorsport , 0 points
- Stefano Zanini (#69), Dinamic SRL, 0 points
- Marco Pellegrini (#67), Dinamic SRL, 0 points
- Edina Bus (#87), B3R Hungary KFT, 0 points
- Amalia Vinyes (#13), Baporo Motorsport, 0 points
- Alex Carbonell (#4), Monlau Competición, 0 points
- Gabor Weber (#1), B3R Hungary KFT, 0 points
- Thomas Fjordbach (#54), Pujolar Racing, 0 points
More pictures from the first SEAT Leon Eurocup weekend
