Brno 30th May 2004

Official Race Report

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Brno May 30th Eurocup 2004

Victory at Brno for Scott Speed on Saturday morning, as the American cruised to the chequered flag after a trouble-free race 1. And while the Motopark Academy driver made it all look so simple as he took the race win in front of Kochem (Jenzer Motorsport) and Kofler (JD Motorsport), we should remember the technical effort and skill behind the performance, and that there’s no such thing as a foregone conclusion in motor racing. At the green light, Speed got off to a perfect start and was first into turn one, in front of Kochem and Kofler. At a respectable distance behind them came Fleming (Jenzer Motorsport), Pagenaud (Graff Racing) and Meijer (AR Motorsport) who were matching the pace of the leaders though unlikely to catch them up. At the front, Speed managed to pull out a gap of half a second over Kochem without pushing hard or taking risks. And despite the Jenzer driver taking the fastest time on lap two, the American conserved this cushion for the rest of the race, dictating the pace for the rest of the pack. Further back, no one was looking like causing problems for the leaders, with only Meijer attempting to pull up to Pagenaud. But his hopes were short lived, and the Frenchman held onto fifth place as he watched his lead in the overall standings disappear. The pace slowed slightly on lap eight, enabling Kochem to move up 3 tenths of a second on Speed. But the American reacted promptly, speeding things up the next time around to maintain his lead. With very little change in the gaps, the top six places were decided from lap seven. And, unfortunately for us, no overtaking manoeuvres among the lead drivers. After a faultless and perfectly controlled race, Speed took the chequered flag and the provisional championship lead. The American now has a four point advantage over Pagenaud, and with these two men sharing the front row in this afternoon’s race, the rest of the weekend is looking intense.

This afternoon at Brno, we saw what is commonly known as a Grand Slam: two pole positions and two race wins for the amazing Scott Speed (Motopark Academy). The young American - unstoppable in the last round at Hockenheim - left nothing for the chasing pack as he stormed to victory in Saturday afternoon’s second race of the weekend, ahead of Pagenaud (Graff Racing) and Fleming (Jenzer Motorsport). With hindsight we can say that this race was decided before it even got underway, though Speed still deserves recognition for his regularity, and his ability to grab an early lead then run a controlled race. Behind him, Pagenaud and Fleming, as well as Meijer (AR Motorsport) and Kochem (Jenzer Motorsport) never relented in their efforts to take back a couple of thousandths from the leader. This weekend also sees Speed take the number one spot in the overall standings from Pagenaud. “It was impossible for me to hope for anything,” said the Frenchman later, “I was always on the attack, especially at the end when I pulled out all the stops. But Speed pulled out a gap at the start of the race, and all I could do was watch him take the win. We’ll see at Donington.” Indeed, we’ll have to wait and find out whether the major players in the Eurocup can trip up Speed before he runs away with it. Today, though, there were few surprises other than the absence of Walz (Motopark Academy) from the starting grid, the retirement of Weigl and Rocha, and Maldonado’s overtaking of Ammermüller early on in the race. But while the pessimists might call what followed a procession, the bets are definitely on for a change of scenario in a month’s time at Donington. When we reach the UK, the teams will have had time to work on developments, and the line-up will be bigger. This will make for more action in qualifying and perhaps a surprise in store for Speed and the drivers in the FR 2000.

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