EuroFormula Open
Nicolai Kjaergaard

After finishing in second place at Pau earlier on in the EuroFormula Open season, Nicolai found himself back on the podium at Silverstone not once, but twice.

Nicolai started off the weekend qualifying in an impressive third place for the opening race of the weekend, setting a lap time 0.239s faster than his Carlin team-mate Billy Monger.

The Danish driver stayed on the back of second place starter Enaam Ahmed for the majority of the race, after very briefly losing third place to Monger at the start. Nicolai’s stunning performance meant that he comfortably finished in third place and the second-best rookie.

In qualifying for race 2 Nicolai was on pace to battle race 1 winner Toshiki Oyu for pole position at the end of the session, but after being held up in traffic he wasn’t able to improve and was set back to seventh overall.

Not letting the lost chance affect him, Nicolai put his head down in race two and was matching the pace of the race leader Oyu as the Dane set the fastest lap of the race. He passed Dennis Hauger with an impressive move, and also gained two places on the penultimate lap to finish yet again on the podium in third, his first double podium finish of the 2019 season.

The result moves him up to eighth in the standings, ahead of team-mate Monger as well as Christian Hahn.

Speaking about Nicolai’s weekend, Harry Soden, Director of Infinity Sports Management said:

“It was a great weekend for Nicolai, he has worked really hard during his summer break.

“To come back with two podiums and a fastest lap is very pleasing going in to the last two rounds of the season.”

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GT Cup Open
Charlie Eastwood

In a one-off event for Optimum Motorsport, Charlie joined British GT Championship driver Connor O’Brien to compete in GT Cup Open with an Aston Martin Vantage GT4.

Charlie rose to the occasion in the new environment, making massive improvements in a small amount of time to qualify in ninth overall and fourth in the Pro-Am class.

If anyone thought that was the end of the story, Charlie proved them wrong. He was able to vault up the grid on the opening lap of the 55-minute race from ninth to fifth, gaining another spot at the start of the second lap.

For the remainder of his stint Charlie was involved in a close and tough battle both from behind and in front, with the front runners all close together. His performance led to his team-mate coming out in second and briefly leading the race before finishing in a fantastic second place.

Charlie took to the car for the second stint in race two, after O’Brien came into the pits in sixth after 11 laps. He was involved in another great battle on track, taking the chequered flag in fifth position overall, but importantly grabbing second place in Pro-Am.

Thoroughly enjoying himself on track in a new category, Charlie explained:

“It’s difficult to jump into the GT4 category as there are differing grip, aero and straight-line speeds, so for me I had to think out of the box to find ways to pass and then worked my way up to P4.

“It was a great race and a lot of fun, for Connor to get his first podium made it the more special.”

Harry Soden, Director of Infinity Sports Management said:

“Charlie was called in to use his experience to push the team and the other driver forward. He was rewarded with two podiums so all in all a good day.”

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