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[Formula Renault Eurocup] Mustonen takes championship lead |
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Monday, 19 June 2006 |
Mustonen takes championship lead
Koiranen bros. Motorsport driver Atte Mustonen leads the Formula Renault Eurocup, after two podium finishes in Istanbul, Turkey.
Both the team and driver were in top form all weekend. Atte’s car was well balanced from the beginning, and the team opted not to use new tires on the Thursday test sessions, saving them for Friday instead. Atte made the best use of this and topped the time sheets on both Friday sessions.
The good results continued in qualifying, with Atte securing 4th and 2nd place for the Saturday and Sunday races. It could have been even better, as Atte was blocked by another driver while on a lap that would have put him on the front row for the first race as well.
Atte had a good start, and got past Kasper Andersen early on in the first race. He then chased Carlo Van Dam and Dani Clos, who were ahead, while defending his 3rd place from the pack of Red Bull cars that followed. The top 3 remained unchanged until the end, which gave Atte and the team their first Eurocup podium.
On Sunday Atte was determined to do even better, and immediately took the lead from Dani Clos at the start. Unfortunately the Spanish driver passed him again during the first lap. A crash brought out the Safety Car during the race, which reduced Atte’s chances of finding a way past Clos. The same drivers visited the podium once again, but this time in a different order: Clos, Mustonen, Van Dam.
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