Johan van den Beld wins a spectacular race at Donington Park Racing Circuit - Grand Prix
The first race of the Formula 2000 - 2016 Spring Series began on a cold and cloudy Donington Park. Angelo Cellura on pole position got of to a good start and kept the lead into turn one, with Johan van den Beld and Henrik Kämärä behind him. However Henrik Kämärä lost connection to the server and had to retire and thereby promoting David J Burns to 3rd. All the way through the start and mid part of the race Johan van den Beld was challenging Angelo Cellura for the lead, but Angelo held on to 1st position. Further behind them Marcel Seidel, Nicolai Bjerre and Nicklas Rasmussen were also battling for position. On Lap 12 Paul Knowles spun and Michael Tuck crashed into him, the incident brought out the Safety Car. Paul Knowles was able to carry on but Michael Tuck retired. On laps 16 the race was resumed and the battle in front continued. On lap 19 the race reached its climax. Angelo Cellura had suffered with connection issues all race long and the battle between Angelo Cellura and Johan van den Beld ended with a collision between the two, with the result that Angelo Cellura had to retire. Meanwhile on the same lap Nicklas Rasmussen passed David J Burns and Nicklas moved up into 2nd. In the final turn on the final lap Nicklas Rasmussen went for the overtake on Johan van den Beld, But Johan had the better exit speed and went on to win a spectacular opening race. Nicklas Rasmussen finished 2nd and David J Burns 3rd. In the 1600 cup, defending cup champion Ronald Rasmussen took 1st place. Next week, round two of the championship will take place at Summit Point Motorsports Park - Main Circuit.