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Fontes, van Oostrum winners in CER season opener
Mon 04, May, 2015

Álvaro Fontes and Mirco van Oostrum could not have asked for a better start of their 2015 campaign in the Spanish Endurance Championship. They both claimed exciting race win in the afternoon and finished 4th in the morning, both in D1 and SEAT Trophy.

Álvaro Fontes and Mirco van Oostrum will have very clear memories of their debut together in the Spanish Endurance Championship. Despite van Oostrum was approaching his debut outing, Netherlands´ driver performed extremely well and partnering with Fontes, they were a protagonist duo driving the SEAT León Cup Racer entered by PCR Sport, the team led by Pep Codinach.

Van Oostrum, coached by Fontes, took his very first steps at Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana during free practice sessions. And it proved to be a valuable first taste, with the pair of PCR Sport posting a lap time of 1:46.759 in FP1 and then 1:45.563 in FP2. Van Oostrum was chosen to qualify the car for the first race and he managed to set a lap time of 1:46.009 after seven laps. Fontes snatched the pole position in Q2 by clocking a time of 1:42.833, behind the GT cars and beating drivers such as Jaume Font or Nil Montserrat.

Sunday saw both races, consisting of 48 minutes plus one lap each, and van Oostrum made the opening stint in Race 1. After a brilliant performance, he handed over the SEAT to Fontes, and the Málaga-born driver crossed the finish line 4th in class. Race Two provided even more joy, with Fontes pulling away and building a solid lead, with a 15-second advantage over the rest of the field. With van Oostrum taking over the driving duties, the duo claimed his maiden race win in class this year.

“We are very pleased with our results and season start could hardly have been any better. It was a perfect weekend because we aren´t as experienced as our rivals. We made a strong recovery in Race one to come fourth and then in Race two, without time handicap, my race was pretty good. Starting on pole position, I built a fifteen-second lead for Mirco, and it proved to be enough to emerge as the winners”, Fontes explained, who was visibly happy with his weekend in eastern Spain.