Renger van der Zande

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Lightning quick Renger haunted by mechanical problems in Algarve

Renger van der Zande was the man to beat during both races at the Algarve circuit in Portugal, but both times his car suffered from mechanical problems. In both the first and second race, the Hitech driver was at the front of the pack, but cantankerous equipment twice forced him to surrender the lead. That does nothing to detract from the fact that Renger once again showed his fantastic speed this weekend and demonstrated he is simply one of today's fastest Formula 3 drivers.

Published: Sunday 13 September, 2009

During race one Renger fought a dramatic duel with Jules Bianchi who is on his way to the title in the Formula 3 Euro Series. Renger initially got a huge lead on Bianchi. "The start was somewhat chaotic because the lamps went out in a flash and after the first bend I was in second position," explained Renger who started at the pole. "I was able to pass him again pretty quickly though, and I got far ahead, but after a while the safety car came out. At the restart Bianchi sat in my slipstream and took the lead again, but I wasn't willing to accept that, so I overtook him again. I left him far behind again, but seven laps before the end I suddenly had terrible understeer. It turned out to be a slowly leaking rear tyre and I was able to hold on to the lead for a few more laps, but at a certain point the tyre was simply flat and I crossed the line in fourth position. That put me in second place in the British F3 championship, because the guys from the Euro Series don't score any points."

"In race two I started as eighth and cut my way forward like a hot knife through butter. I took over the lead from Jules Bianchi but left the track for an instant when I took it a bit wide, and a piece of astroturf got lodged under my car making it almost impossible to steer. The balance was completely gone, and I fell back to twelfth place."

"I should have won both races, but this is the world of racing. It's a technical sport, and this kind of thing can happen. We absolutely showed our speed and we can be happy about that. On to the next race!" 

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