Hobart driver Alex Peroni has moved a step closer to winning the Monoplace Challenge title after scoring two wins and a second in the fifth round of the series at Mugello in Italy last weekend.
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The sixteen-year-old dominated the Italian round which is one of four cross-border rounds in the French-based series for Formula Renault open wheel cars.
The former successful Kart racer qualified on pole position for the first two races, but was judged by the officials to have exceeded track limits on one of his fastest laps, and he was relegated back to seventh grid position for the second race.
Peroni got a great start in race one to open up a gap to the opposition and from then on just concentrated on conserving his tyres, knowing he would have to work them hard in race two.
Despite starting from the fourth row on the grid, Peroni worked his way through the field to take his second win which meant he would be on pole position for the third race, but at a cost.
“I really had to work my tyres very hard in the second race to get the win so I knew race three would be difficult as my rear tyres had very little grip left,” Peroni said.
At the start of race three Peroni had to relinquish the lead to Ukrainian Alexey Chuklin, and then it was a case of defending his position to come home second and score top points for the weekend.
“There was no way I could fight for the win as it was all I could do to maintain my second position,” Peroni said.
With two rounds to go, Peroni has now extended his lead in the series from 53.5 points to 112.5 points over Frenchman Gilles Heriau. Alexey Chuklin is a further 120.5 points back.
Consistency has been the key with Peroni, finishing every one of the fifteen races to date, scoring eight wins and a total of twelve podium positions.
The next round will be at Magny Cours in France on October 7/8/9.
Nissan to stay in supercars
The announcement on Thursday morning that Nissan has signed a two-year extension to continue in Supercars beyond this year with the Kelly brothers.
This is great news for the sport and the championship, but it raises questions as to who the drivers will be.
Current driver Michael Caruso was the only confirmed driver on Thursday with a new two-year deal.
Logic would suggest that Todd and Rick Kelly will continue as well.
As to the fourth driver, there are indications it may well be 28-year-old Swiss driver and open wheel star Simona De Silvestro who drove in the Bathurst 1000 last year with Dunlop series racer Renee Gracie.
