Qualifying for the first race of the weekend saw Oscar Piastri and Nikita Volegov set the 5th and 11th fastest time in Group A respectively, with Taoufik setting the 11th fastest time in Group B.
Race one saw the Arden trio start in 10th, 21st and 22nd positions - taking place in dry conditions. Piastri moved up a position to 9th in the opening corners, as all the Arden runners got away cleanly and through the first lap unscathed. Taoufik gained four positions on the opening lap to move into 18th position, with Volegov less fortunate and dropped a couple of positions.
Piastri came out strong at the start of the race, taking Charles Milesi around the outside of Turn 3 to move himself up into 8th position, with Taoufik gaining a position on the same lap to move into 17th. This was just before the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 3 for an incident at Turn 10.
The race resumed with 20 minutes to go, where the field held position on the first lap back under green flagged conditions. Piastri stalked the back of 7th position for a number of laps on the notoriously difficult to overtake Hungaroring circuit, nevertheless with 9 minutes to go, he pulled off a great move again around the outside of Turn 3 to take the position.
Piastri managed to close onto the back of Lorenzo Colombo for 6th at the end of the race - missing out on the fastest lap of the race by less than half a tenth.
Despite his charge, he ran out of laps to further improve his position. Teammates Taoufik and Volegov managed to improve in the closing stages to finish solidly in 16th and 19th respectively.
Qualifying for the second race of the weekend took place in very wet conditions following the storms surrounding the circuit this weekend. Piastri however excelled in the conditions, setting the 2nd fastest time in Group A – just 0.005s off the fastest time. Volegov set the 11th fastest time in the same group, while Taoufik set the 7th fastest time in Group B.
This meant Piastri would start from 4th position, Taoufik in 13th and Volegov in 22nd position.
Through the spray at the start, Piastri emerged in 5th position coming out of Turn 3, with Taoufik moving up to 10th and Volegov running in 25th at the end of the opening tour.
At half distance, Piastri maintained 5th position in the treacherous conditions, with Taoufik moving up to 9th position and Volegov moving up the order into 21st position.
Into the final 8 minutes, the battle for the podium began to close up – bringing Piastri into contention for an overall podium.
The Safety Car was deployed with 4 minutes to go, following an accident for one of the Tech 1 Racing drivers. The race would not be resumed and finished under the Safety Car, with Piastri leading the Arden trio home in 4th position, with Taoufik 10th and Volegov finishing the race in 19th at the chequered flag.
The Formula Renault Eurocup is back in action at the Nurburgring on the 15-16 September, in just two weeks’ time.
Photographs Courtesy of Dutch Photo Agency