Third victory for Rowland as Parry secures title

Photo: Chris Schotanus

While Eurocup regular Oliver Rowland triumphed in the first Formula Renault 2.0 NEC race at Zandvoort, it was Matt Parry who crossed the checkered flag as the series’ new champion.

RSF-backed Rowland started the race from pole position and enjoyed a relaxed drive to his dominant third victory in the championship.

He was unchallenged by the rest of the field for the absolute majority of the race as most of his chasers found themselves too busy fighting among themselves.

Fellow front row starter Alfonso Celis ended up holding the pack back in the opening stint of the race, but soon found himself tumbling down the order, eventually ending up outside of the top ten. As such, Eurocup regular Steijn Schothorst took over as Rowland’s main chaser, but he himself was soon overtaken by Raoul Owens.

The closely-fought battle for second was shortly interrupted by the safety car, which came out due to a number of midfield incidents, subsequently eradicating Rowland’s advantage. The race remained in that condition until the checkered flag, with the green flag coming out in the final sector of the final lap.

While Rowland cruised to victory, Owens spun out of second and ended up finishing in P20. Schothorst inherited the place, while ART Junior Team’s Andrea Pizzitola held on to third.

Caterham junior Parry fought his way up the field to take fourth and, with it, he has put his remaining title rivals Jack Aitken and Dennis Olsen out of mathematical contention.

Aitken and Olsen both finished right behind Parry, in fifth and sixth respectively, and will continue the fight for second in the standings.

Kuba Dalewski, Roman Beregech, Ryan Tveter and Roman Mavlanov rounded out the top ten.

Race results