Lando Norris takes Rookie of the Year after brilliant fifth Eurocup win
The 16-year-old took a lights-to-flag victory in the second race to go with his second place finish in the first, at Circuit Paul Ricard.
And after extending his lead further in the standings, the Josef Kaufmann Racing driver is focused on taking the main title as well.
The ADD Motorsports-supported racer said: “It’s good to get another title, but my biggest focus is to win the main thing. It was a pretty good weekend and nice to take my fifth win in the Championship. Our qualifying pace has been good in previous weeks, but the race pace has been missing. But the race pace was back this weekend. We turned it around quite a bit this weekend so it’s positive going forward with just two rounds to go.”
Lando worked on his race pace in the tests on Friday, finishing first in both. But after a good first lap in qualifying, the Somerset racer pushed too hard on the second, hitting a cone on an exit and having to return to the pits with a damaged front wing.
It was always going to be tough to come back out with cold tyres again, but after finding himself in seventh, Lando did well to get back into third with another good lap. He got off to a great start in the first race, getting into second before the end of the first lap. He spent the rest of the race trying to find a way past the leader, but had to settle for second place in the end.
Qualifying 2 was mistake-free, with Lando improving on his time on each lap and taking pole by two-and-a-half tenths. He got off to a good start in the second race, building up a one-and-a-half second lead by the end of the first lap. From then on, he relaxed, building his lead every lap to get the win with a four second cushion.
The maximum points saw Lando crowned Rookie of the Year 2016 with two rounds to spare. He sits on top of the Championship with 202 points, 39.5 points ahead of second place.
He added: “Spa is up next and last time I was there, I did well with two wins. We’ll have to see what the weather’s like, but I’m hoping for the same sort of results as I got then and to build on this week. I have a good lead at the top with two rounds to go, but I still want to win the races so will go in with the same approach as always and hopefully it will be enough.”
