Spain’s Jose Alonso Liste resisted heavy and sustained pressure from fellow front-row starter Nigel Moore to claim victory in the second race at Rockingham, his first win of the season. Alonso Liste made a good start away to preserve position, while Nigel Moore – who also made a good getaway – came under pressure from Vincent Beltoise. Moore hung on to keep second, and from there he and Alonso Liste set about an engrossing game of cat-and-mouse, gradually establishing a gap of more than four seconds over the rest of the field.
Moore closed significantly in the final few laps, and at times was able to put one wheel on the inside of Alonso Liste’s car, but the Spaniard defended faultlessly to resist the challenges. The pair eventually crossed the line separated by just 0.483 seconds.
Behind them, Kieran Vernon made it two podiums from two races by finishing third – his best two results of the season. Starting from fifth, Vernon passed Thiemo Storz away from the line before later gaining third on lap ten with a great move down the inside of Vicent Beltoise at turn two. Beltoise came under pressure from Melroy Heemskerk almost immediately after losing third to Vernon, but the Frenchman hung on before gradually easing away to clinch fourth by just over one second.
Nigel Moore (2nd Place), Jose Alonso Liste (winner) and Kieran Vernon (3rd Place) ©james bearne
That left Heemskerk in fifth, the Dutchman taking full advantage of a brilliant start to jump championship leader Maxime Jousse through the opening corners. Jousse stuck with Heemskerk for the rest of the race, but was unable to find a way through and eventually finished less than one second down the road in sixth.
So impressive has Jousse been this season that his brace of sixth-place finishes represents his worst weekend of the year, but he nevertheless leaves Rockingham with a healthy 43 point lead in the championship.
Behind Jousse, a charging Ramón Piñeiro came through from tenth on the grid to clinch seventh – his drive including stellar passes on Tommaso Menchini, Giuseppe Cirpriani and Howard Fuller, whom he chased down and passed at turn two. Fuller himself had demonstrated strong overtaking instincts with a lovely pass on Giuseppe Cipriani in the midfield section, and while he responded instantly to Piñeiro’s pass he was unable to reclaim the position and eventually came home in eighth.
After a frantic opening, Giuseppe Cipriani came home in a relatively quiet ninth, with James Thorp similarly comfortable as he rounded out the top ten. Callum Holland meanwhile endured mixed fortunes to eventually finish 11th. The Briton lost out in the melee of the opening few corners, but fought back admirably and was running ninth on the final lap when he tried to pass Giuseppe Cipriani, whom he had been hunting down for several laps. The attempted pass was not successful and Holland spun, although he was able to continue and only lost two places as a result.
Victor Jimenez came home 12th, having again impressed in only his second ever race. The Spaniard enjoyed a good battle with Ash Davies for much of the race, with the pair trading places three times – Jimenez eventually stealing the position with a great dive down the inside into the final chicane. Davies then retired from the race on lap 14.
Tommaso Menchini was also a late spinner, the Italian dropping from ninth to 14th as he ran wide and onto the grass at turn seven. He was able to continue and set about trying to hunt down Luca Orlandi, although he agonisingly fell just short – the pair crossing the line side by side, with Orlandi less than 0.08s ahead.
Having taken a podium in his very first FPA race, Thiemo Storz suffered heartbreak in the second as he retired on the opening lap. The German bogged down at the start and lost several places, before seemingly falling foul of the midfield melee as he crashed at turn three. The accident brought about a four-lap safety car period while his car was safely cleared, although Jose Alonso Liste and the rest of the field all maintained position at the restart.
Formula Palmer Audi Championship – Rounds 11 & 12 – Rockingham – Race Two Provisional Classification:
1. Jose Alonso Liste, 16 laps
2. Nigel Moore, +0.483s
3. Kieran Vernon, +4.246s
4. Vincent Beltoise, +7.006s
5. Melroy Heemskerk, +8.004s
6. Maxime Jousse, +8.729s
7. Ramón Piñeiro, +12.711s
8. Howard Fuller, +13.369s
9. Giuseppe Cipriani, +22.964s
10. James Thorp, +29.710s
