Bottas finds his rhythm

Silverstone – Collective Testing 2

The dominant force in the first day of collective testing, Valtteri Bottas (Motopark Academy) confirmed his presence on the Silverstone track with an impressive lead in each of the day's sessions.

The Finnish leads Mathieu Arzeno (Epsilon Sport) and Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula). The forty-two Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 competitors were split into two groups for Friday's two collective testing sessions on.

In the first group of even numbered cars, Roberto Mehri (Epsilon Euskadi) set the fastest lap of the morning during a session fraught with red flags. On his last attempt, the seventeen year-old Spaniard nudged Daniel Mc Kenzie (Fortec Motorsport) into second place with a time of 1'46''779. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (BVM Minardi Team) was getting quicker at the end of the session, finishing in second position and putting two British drivers in the top three places. Pal Varhaug (Jenzer Motorsport) and Mathieu Arzeno (Epsilon Sport) completed the top 5.

One incident worth noting was Miguel Otegui (Iquick), who seriously damaged his car after crashing out in the second session. Despite the mechanics best efforts, the Spaniard was unable to participate in the second session.

After lunch, Roberto Mehri once again spent the majority of the session in first place, improving on his best time of the morning. However, the situation changed as the end of the session drew closer. Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula) took first position, before Mathieu Arzeno had the final word in group 1 with a time of 1'45''972.

In group 2, Valtteri Bottas appeared to own the track. The Finn immediately filled the top rank. Only Dean Smith (Fortec Motorsport) seemed to come close to challenging the leader, briefly holding first position. But Bottas was on form and improved his time further. With a lap-time of 1'46''566 he was the only driver to beat his previous day's pace. Valtteri Bottas continued his efforts driving a sub-1'46'' lap. With a final time of 1'45''554 he finished more than a second faster than Dean Smith. Himar Acosta (Iquick) was third quickest, ahead of Michel Faccin (Jenzer Motorsport) and Siso Cunil (Jenzer Motorsport).

The second session appeared to be more open, even if the teams were concentrating more on race set-up than pure performance. Cesar Ramos (BVM Minardi Team) spent the majority of the session in first position. The final minutes changed everything when Valtteri Bottas, true to form, improved on his previous performance and snatched the top-spot with a time of 1'45''386. He finished the session ahead of Stéphane Richelmi (Epsilon Sport) and Albert Costa (Epsilon Euskadi).

Valtteri Bottas: «I really like this track. We've made some improvements to the overall handling of my car and I've improved my driving style as things weren't quite right yesterday. We've also worked hard for the race. I'm confident for qualifying as I've set quick times in both sessions.»

Mathieu Arzeno: «Yesterday we tried a different set-up on each of the different Epsilon Sport cars. Finally, I decided to go with the same settings as Stéphane Richelmi. We've got a competitive package. This has really given everone a boost after a difficult start to the season at Spa.»

POS NUMBER DRIVER TEAM LAP TIME GAP_FIRST KPH LAPS  1 8 Roberto MERHI EPSILON EUSKADI 2 9 1:46.779 - 173.3 10   2 26 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS BVM MINARDI TEAM 11 1:47.024 +0.245 172.9 12   3 42 Daniel MCKENZIE FORTEC MOTORSPORT 6 1:47.112 +0.333 172.8 12   4 28 Pal VARHAUG JENZER MOTORSPORT 6 1:47.131 +0.352 172.7 9   5 34 Mathieu ARZENO EPSILON SPORT 7 1:47.143 +0.364 172.7 11   6 10 Tobias HEGEWALD MOTOPARK ACADEMY 10 1:47.357 +0.578 172.4 11   7 44 Alex MORGAN FORTEC COMPETITION 12 1:47.397 +0.618 172.3 13   8 24 Daniel ZAMPIERI BVM MINARDI TEAM 10 1:47.514 +0.735 172.1 11   9 12 Daniel RICCIARDO SG FORMULA 6 1:47.559 +0.780 172.0 12   10 6 Jean Eric VERGNE SG DRIVERS PROJECT 7 1:47.567 +0.788 172.0 12   11 2 Pablo MONTILLA EPSILON EUSKADI 1 5 1:47.635 +0.856 171.9 10   12 14 Andrea CALDARELLI SG FORMULA 7 1:47.650 +0.871 171.9 12   13 78 Benajmin LARICHE POLE SERVICES 8 1:47.987 +1.208 171.4 12   14 4 Ramez AZZAM SG DRIVERS PROJECT 6 1:48.205 +1.426 171.0 12   15 36 Richard SINGLETON HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 6 1:48.245 +1.466 170.9 11   16 22 Kuba GIERMAZIAK TEAM MOTOPARK 7 1:48.475 +1.696 170.6 12   17 30 Miguel OTEGUI IQUICK 10 1:48.479 +1.700 170.6 10   18 38 Luciano BACHETA HITECH JUNIOR RACING 8 1:48.854 +2.075 170.0 11   19 32 Marcelo CONCHADO AMITER GALUPPO SPORT 7 1:49.850 +3.071 168.4 12   20 40 Dino BUTORAC RB RACING TEAM 12 1:52.085 +5.306 165.1 13   21 18 Patrick REITERER PREMA POWERTEAM 2 1:52.249 +5.470 164.8 2  

POS NUMBER DRIVER TEAM LAP TIME GAP_FIRST KPH LAPS  1 11 Valtteri BOTTAS MOTOPARK ACADEMY 12 1:45.554 - 175.3 13   2 41 Dean SMITH FORTEC MOTORSPORT 12 1:46.750 +1.196 173.3 12   3 31 Himar ACOSTA IQUICK 9 1:46.894 +1.340 173.1 9   4 27 Michele FACCIN JENZER MOTORSPORT 11 1:46.998 +1.444 172.9 12   5 29 Siso CUNILL JENZER MOTORSPORT 12 1:47.126 +1.572 172.7 12   6 5  Anton NEBILITSKYI SG DRIVERS PROJECT 11 1:47.197 +1.643 172.6 11   7 7 Albert COSTA EPSILON EUSKADI 2 11 1:47.321 +1.767 172.4 11   8 35 Stephane RICHELMI EPSILON SPORT 11 1:47.397 +1.843 172.3 11   9 15 Nelson LUKES SG FORMULA 11 1:47.549 +1.995 172.1 11   10 25 Cesar RAMOS BVM MINARDI TEAM 6 1:47.678 +2.124 171.8 11   11 21 Nathanaël BERTHON BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 12 1:47.708 +2.154 171.8 12   12 45 Nicolas MARROC TCS RACING 10 1:47.766 +2.212 171.7 11   13 3 Richard CAMPOLLO EPSILON EUSKADI 1 10 1:47.884 +2.330 171.5 10   14 43 Gabriel DIAS FORTEC COMPETITION 5 1:47.898 +2.344 171.5 7   15 19 Adam KOUT KRENEK MOTORSPORT 12 1:47.981 +2.427 171.4 12   16 9 Carlos MUÑOZ EPSILON EUSKADI 2 10 1:48.088 +2.534 171.2 11   17 17 Sergio CAMPANA PREMA POWERTEAM 5 1:48.292 +2.738 170.9 11   18 23 Juan Pablo GARCÍA TEAM MOTOPARK 11 1:48.419 +2.865 170.7 12   19 37 Miki MONRAS HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 4 1:48.488 +2.934 170.6 12   20 1 Jake ROSENZWEIG EPSILON EUSKADI 1 4 1:48.623 +3.069 170.4 10   21 39 Juan JACOBO HITECH JUNIOR RACING 10 1:49.611 +4.057 168.8 11  

POS NUMBER DRIVER TEAM LAP TIME GAP_FIRST KPH LAPS  1 34 Mathieu ARZENO EPSILON SPORT 11 1:45.972 - 174.6 11   2 12 Daniel RICCIARDO SG FORMULA 9 1:45.987 +0.015 174.6 10   3 8 Roberto MERHI EPSILON EUSKADI 2 9 1:46.251 +0.279 174.2 9   4 6 Jean Eric VERGNE SG DRIVERS PROJECT 10 1:46.759 +0.787 173.3 10   5 14 Andrea CALDARELLI SG FORMULA 9 1:46.764 +0.792 173.3 10   6 28 Pal VARHAUG JENZER MOTORSPORT 12 1:46.883 +0.911 173.1 12   7 10 Tobias HEGEWALD MOTOPARK ACADEMY 11 1:47.117 +1.145 172.7 11   8 22 Kuba GIERMAZIAK TEAM MOTOPARK 4 1:47.164 +1.192 172.7 12   9 4 Ramez AZZAM SG DRIVERS PROJECT 11 1:47.210 +1.238 172.6 12   10 78 Benajmin LARICHE POLE SERVICES 11 1:47.461 +1.489 172.2 11   11 2 Pablo MONTILLA EPSILON EUSKADI 1 6 1:47.580 +1.608 172.0 12   12 26 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS BVM MINARDI TEAM 7 1:47.592 +1.620 172.0 10   13 18 Patrick REITERER PREMA POWERTEAM 13 1:47.642 +1.670 171.9 13   14 44 Alex MORGAN FORTEC COMPETITION 10 1:47.684 +1.712 171.8 10   15 24 Daniel ZAMPIERI BVM MINARDI TEAM 11 1:47.850 +1.878 171.6 11   16 38 Luciano BACHETA HITECH JUNIOR RACING 7 1:47.984 +2.012 171.4 8   17 32 Marcelo CONCHADO AMITER GALUPPO SPORT 10 1:48.190 +2.218 171.0 10   18 36 Richard SINGLETON HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 2 1:48.245 +2.273 170.9 7   19 42 Daniel MCKENZIE FORTEC MOTORSPORT 6 1:48.266 +2.294 170.9 14   20 40 Dino BUTORAC RB RACING TEAM 5 1:49.746 +3.774 168.6 8   21 30 Miguel OTEGUI IQUICK 0       0  

POS NUMBER DRIVER TEAM LAP TIME GAP_FIRST KPH LAPS  1 11 Valtteri BOTTAS MOTOPARK ACADEMY 12 1:45.386 - 175.6 12   2 35 Stephane RICHELMI EPSILON SPORT 11 1:46.512 +1.126 173.7 11   3 7 Albert COSTA EPSILON EUSKADI 2 12 1:46.523 +1.137 173.7 12   4 27 Michele FACCIN JENZER MOTORSPORT 12 1:46.570 +1.184 173.6 13   5 25 Cesar RAMOS BVM MINARDI TEAM 5 1:46.773 +1.387 173.3 7   6 43 Gabriel DIAS FORTEC COMPETITION 9 1:46.926 +1.540 173.1 10   7 41 Dean SMITH FORTEC MOTORSPORT 12 1:47.109 +1.723 172.8 13   8 29 Siso CUNILL JENZER MOTORSPORT 10 1:47.171 +1.785 172.7 12   9 5  Anton NEBILITSKYI SG DRIVERS PROJECT 12 1:47.217 +1.831 172.6 12   10 19 Adam KOUT KRENEK MOTORSPORT 12 1:47.240 +1.854 172.5 13   11 3 Richard CAMPOLLO EPSILON EUSKADI 1 11 1:47.314 +1.928 172.4 12   12 15 Nelson LUKES SG FORMULA 13 1:47.432 +2.046 172.2 13   13 17 Sergio CAMPANA PREMA POWERTEAM 14 1:47.471 +2.085 172.2 14   14 1 Jake ROSENZWEIG EPSILON EUSKADI 1 12 1:47.592 +2.206 172.0 12   15 23 Juan Pablo GARCÍA TEAM MOTOPARK 12 1:47.738 +2.352 171.7 14   16 31 Himar ACOSTA IQUICK 4 1:47.789 +2.403 171.7 12   17 9 Carlos MUÑOZ EPSILON EUSKADI 2 10 1:47.934 +2.548 171.4 11   18 39 Juan JACOBO HITECH JUNIOR RACING 12 1:48.096 +2.710 171.2 12   19 45 Nicolas MARROC TCS RACING 13 1:48.255 +2.869 170.9 13   20 21 Nathanaël BERTHON BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 8 1:48.600 +3.214 170.4 13   21 37 Miki MONRAS HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 3 1:49.197 +3.811 169.5 6