Milesi in the lead of the NEC at the Nürburgring

Fired up by his recent victory in the French F4 Championship at Magny-Vours, Charles Milesi changed his setting for the following weekend to retake the wheel of his Formula Renault 2.0. In fact, he raced in the third meeting of the Northern European Cup (NEC) on the German circuit of the Nürburgring with Team R-ace GP. In the event, he felt a certain disappointment for having been deprived of his 4th position in Race 1 due to technical disqualification. Now well established in his first season in single-seaters, Charles is already looking to the next competition to achieve his goals.

In addition to his intensive preparation with Simumotion, Charles Milesi clearly benefited from the test days held at the end of August at Val de Vienne under the watchful eye of his sporting sponsor Anthony Beltoise. He set a very convincing time in Free Practice for the NEC at the Nürburgring. Qualifying then took place on a greasy track, which did not particularly bother the young FR 2.0 rookie. In Q1, he threw all his energy into the last lap to set a very good 4th time, three tenths of a second of the leader. A driver went out into the gravel trap at the end of the session and Q2 finished under full yellow. This incident prevented Charles from using the best grip conditions to maintain his 4th place and he was credited with the 6th time of the session.

After a good start in Race 1, Charles did not take unnecessary risks at the first corner and kept his 4th position. He then came back on his opponents in the top three, attacking quite strongly. Although very fast, he had to face a change in the balance of his car, which took concentrated effort. Unaccustomed to this phenomenon, he was satisfied with an excellent 4th position on the finish line. Unfortunately, he did not profit much from this result as the loss of his catalyst during the race caused his disqualification.

The weather was cooler for Race 2 on Sunday morning and Charles did not heat his tyres sufficiently on the practice lap. This explained his lower degree of performance in the first laps. He gradually returned to the pace and resisted the pressure from Gilles Magnus very well, the leader of the Championship at that moment. An error in the presentation of the “last lap” sign a lap too early nullified his well anticipated strategy and cost him 6th position.

“As far as my pure performances are concerned, the German meeting went pretty well,” explained Charles. “I was not the fastest, but my times were still very good. I could have scored significant points and come back at least in the top five of the championship. The result from the Nürburgring is therefore tinged with disappointment, but I am used to the difficulties of racing and I will not let it get me down for so little! My programme is very busy in September and I will have the opportunity to do it again very soon. I will start a new meeting in FR 2.0 with all the drivers of the Eurocup and the NEC next weekend at Spa Francorchamps.“

Charles Milesi PR / © Dutch Photo Agency