SWISS FASTEST ON FRENCH TRACK

 Formula Master's official two-day test at Magny-Cours, France, began yesterday with 31 cars taking to the track whilst Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer posted the fastest lap of the day.

Despite overcast weather conditions, the Formula Master drivers completed 1,963 laps, totalling 8,658km, during the day.

Leimer's morning time of 1:32.755 could not be bettered by the rest of the Formula Master field although Tim Sandtler's best time got him the closest, with a 1:32.996 lap.

"At the moment, the car is really good," said Leimer who also claimed best rookie of the day. "I'm able to go out everytime and set a good lap. We're not pushing, everything is working well and that's where the lap times come from.

"We've been focusing on distances today, going out for eight, nine, ten laps at a time and seeing how consistent the car is. Every lap was close each time, which is great."

With intermittent rain during the afternoon, drivers were unable to significantly improve their times and it was Switzerland's Leimer who set the fastest lap of the session once more with a time of 1:33.083.

ADM Motorsport's Norbert Siedler followed closely with a 1:33.103 lap whilst Pablo Sanchez Lopez came third in the afternoon session (1:33.176) for Cram Competition.

"We worked more on the development of the cars today," said Siedler. "We set some solid times this afternoon and can now focus on finding good set-ups tomorrow."

Team-mates Tim Sandtler and Filip Salaquarda enjoyed the best combined performance for ISR posting strong times throughout the day and claiming second and ninth fastest overall respectively.

Newcomer Harald Schlegelmilch took to the track for the first time for Trident Racing, following his stint in GP2 Asia. Euronova's Johannes Theobald from Germany and returning Swiss driver Nicolas Maulini also tested for the first time this year as did Hillclimb racer Florian Lachat with Jenzer Racing.

Formula Master - Magny-Cours official testing

Day One: morning - top eight

1. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport, 1:32.755

2. Tim Sandtler (CZR), ISR, 1:32.996

3. Chris van der Drift (NED), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.376

4. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.457

5. Michael Ammermueller (GER), Iris Project, 1:33.591

6. Norbert Siedler (AUS), ADM Motorsport, 1:33.762

7. Michael Meadows (GBR), Euronova Racing, 1.33.768

8. Carlos Iaconelli (BRA), Pro Motorsport, 1:33.854

Formula Master - Magny-Cours official testing

Day One: afternoon - top eight

1. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport, 1:33.083

2. Norbert Siedler (AUS), ADM Motorsport, 1:33.103

3. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Cram Competition, 1:33.176

4. Chris van der Drift (NED), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.269

5. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition, 1:33.383

6. Michael Ammermueller (GER), Iris Project, 1:33.572

7. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.681

8. Filip Salaquarda (CZH), ISR, 1:33.744

Formula Master official testing

Day One: overall

1. Fabio Leimer (SUI), Jenzer Motorsport, 1:32.755

2. Tim Sandtler (CZR), ISR, 1:32.996

3. Norbert Siedler (AUS), ADM Motorsport, 1:33.103

4. Pablo Sanchez Lopez (MEX), Cram Competition, 1:33.176

5. Chris van der Drift (NED), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.269

6. Arturo Llobell (ESP), Cram Competition, 1:33.383

7. Sergey Afanasiev (RUS), J.D. Motorsport, 1:33.457

8. Michael Ammermueller (GER), Iris Project, 1:33.572

9. Filip Salaquarda (CZH), ISR, 1:33.744

10. Michael Meadows (GBR), Euronova Racing, 1.33.768

11. Daniel Mancinelli (ITA), Alan Racing, 1:33.807

12. Carlos Iaconelli (BRA), Pro Motorsport, 1:33.854

13. Fabrizio Crestani (ITA), Euronova Racing, 1:33.874

14. Marcello Puglisi (ITA), Pro Motorsport, 1:33.927

15. Luca Persiani (ITA), Scuderia Famá, 1:34.180

16. Alberto Costa (ITA), Cram Competition, 1:34.298

17. Alejandro Nunez (ESP), Trident Racing, 1:34.299

18. Harald Schlegelmilch (LAT), Trident Racing, 1:34.346

19. Josef Kral (CZH), Team JVA, 1:34.480

20. Dominik Schraml (GER), Alan Racing, 1:34.607

21. Nicolas Maulini (SUI), NMRT, 1:34.680

22. Matei Mihaescu (ROM), Jenzer Motorsport, 1:34.690

23. Vladimir Arabadzhiev (BUL), J.D. Motorsport, 1:34.758

24. Kasper Andersen (DEN), Trident Racing, 1:34.886

25. Frankie Provenzano (ITA), ADM Motorsport, 1:35.085

26. Johannes Theobalt (GER), Euronova Racing, 1:35.267

27. Troy Castaneda (USA), Alan Racing, 1:35.509

28. Florian Lachat (SUI), Iris Project, 1:35.777

29. Michele Caliendo (ITA), ADM Motorsport, 1:36.525

30. Giuseppe Terranova (ITA), Pro Motorsport, 1:37.114

31. Tomas Pivoda (CZH), ADM Motorsport, 1:38.523