After missing out on the best time by seven-thousands of a second the day before, Caio Colet got his revenge in securing his first pole position in the category.

Moving to the top of the time sheets seven minutes from the end of the session, the Brazilian secured the pole ahead of Victor Martins and David Vidales with his lap clocked in 1:33.133s. Lorenzo Colombo (Bhaitech Racing), Grégoire Saucy (ART Grand Prix) and Alex Quinn (Arden Motorsport) rounded out the top six.

When the lights went out, Caio Collet put in an excellent start and immediately built a gap to David Vidales, who moved past Victor Martins for second place at the end of a spirited duel. Meanwhile, Grégoire Saucy overtook Lorenzo Colombo for fourth place.

In an extremely compact field, Vicky Piria (Bhaitech Racing) saw her race end on the opening lap due to a technical issue. One lap later, Hadrien David and Amaury Cordeel also retired following their run in. The former was later handed a two-position grid penalty for the next race.

Caio Collet progressively extended his advantage while David Vidales had Victor Martins filling up his mirrors. Despite their battle, they pulled away from Grégoire Saucy who was busy fending off Alex Quinn after the British driver got past Lorenzo Colombo on lap three.

Never threatened during the 21 laps of the race, Caio Collet sealed his second victory in the Formula Renault Eurocup with a more than four-second lead from David Vidales. The Spaniard won his fourth Hankook Trophy, rewarded to the highest placed rookie, in five races this season while also finishing ahead of Victor Martins.

Grégoire Saucy held on for fourth ahead of Alex Quinn, who saw Lorenzo Colombo and Ugo de Wilde (Arden Motorsport) close up to him in the last laps. Thanks to their move on Paul Aron (ART Grand Prix) on lap six, Petr Ptáček (R-ace GP) and William Alatalo (JD Motorsport) finished eighth and ninth while the Estonian scored the final point on offer.

Race two of the weekend for the Formula Renault Eurocup at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours will kick-off Sunday at 17:40.

Qualifying - Starting grid - Race 1 - Drivers classification - Teams classification

Quotes

Caio Collet (R-ace GP) : "It’s difficult to ask for more after a win from pole position ! I am really happy with this result. The team has done a great job and it feels good to be back at the front after our difficult weekend at the Nürburgring. We are showing that we are capable of bouncing back and I owe them a huge thank you as the car was perfect. It made my job easier and I hope to get the same start tomorrow, because today’s was really good !"

David Vidales (JD Motorsport) : "I was able to get a good start despite the short distance between the grid and turn one. This allowed me to move up to second place and to keep it after Adelaide. I was a bit struggling in the opening laps, especially in the last sector, before increasing the gap to Victor. This was enough, especially since we were a little bit faster at the end. This is an excellent result for the championship and for the team that deserves it. Tomorrow, everything will be possible if we make another good start from third place on the grid !"

Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) : "I had a little bit of trouble at the start, but David got an exceptionally good start to be well-positioned in first few turns. Despite a difficult race behind him, we did ourselves well for the championship. I think I had the speed to win, because the car was really good. We’re happy to have scored a lot of points and we’re now going to analyse everything so that things will be different tomorrow ! "

*Results subject to confirmation following technical and sporting checks.