Estoril – Collective Testing 1
Three hours of collective testing was on the programme for the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 at Estoril today. The title-fight has reached its zenith, and Valtteri Bottas (Motorpark Academy) clearly showed he means business by setting the fastest time of the day. His opponents were not taking things lying down and this promises to be an explosive weekend of racing.
Group 2The Group 2 drivers were the first to take to the stage at a balmy Estoril for the penultimate meeting of the season. The competitors from the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Eurocup West European Cup were side-by-side in collective testing. And it was the Formula Renault WEC drivers who stood out, with Tristan Vautier (SG Formula) and Bastien Borget (Epsilon Sport) who took an early lead. Vautier was the first to show his stuff, with a lap of 1'40"396.
Valtteri Bottas (Motorpark Academy) however, wasted no time putting things in order take the lead. Lap on lap, he improved his times before setting the fastest lap in 1'38»503. However, two drivers managed to steal his thunder. The Dane, Johan Jokinen (Iquick) made an impression for his debut in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. He ended the morning in second place behind Albert Costa (Epsilon Euskadi), who set the best time with a lap of 1'38»348.
The temperature was rising for the afternoon session. This didn't stop Valtteri Bottas from improving his times. Lapping in 1'37»036, he was the fastest of the day. At the very end of the session, Michele Faccin (Jenzer Motorsport) and Albert Costa (Epsilon Euskadi) came close to the Finn's time, but were unable to beat it.
Group 1The temperature on the track was ideal as the Group 1 drivers lined up to take their turn. Mathieu Arzeno (TCS Racing) set the ball rolling. The SG Formula drivers then took matters into their own hands. Jean-Éric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo and Andrea Caldarelli all battled for the top spot. Ricciardo came out best with a fastest lap of 1'38»106, but right at the chequered flag, Vergne snatched it from him in 1'37»106.
In the afternoon, Kuba Giermaziak (Motopark Academy) stood head and shoulders above Group 1, showing off the Motorpark Academy class on the Portuguese circuit. Giermaziak took the top line on the time sheet, before taking a brief detour through the gravel trap. This did little to slow his assault on the lap-times. He finished the session with the best performance in his group with a lap of 1'37»201.
Behind the Polish driver, the battle was raging. Teammate Felix da Costa (Motorpark Academy) finally clinched second place ahead of the SG Formula drivers Jean-Éric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo. With seventeen cars within one second of each other, the group nothing if not consistent.
Valtteri Bottas: «Our car is very competitive. It's encouraging for the weekend, which is certainly very important for me. I need to continue my run from the Nürburgring and Le Mans. There was no pressure for the last four races. The pressure is all on Ricciardo and Calderelli. They had a strong lead a few races back. Now, anything could happen!»
Pos Driver Team Time S1 Lap S1 Time S2 Lap S2 Time S3 Lap S3 Time S4 Lap S4 Time Gap First Gap Previous
1 Valtteri BOTTAS MOTOPARK ACADEMY 0 1:38.503 10 0 1:37.036 13 1:37.036 2 Kuba GIERMAZIAK TEAM MOTOPARK 1:39.144 14 0 1:37.201 23 0 1:37.201 +0.165 +0.165 3 Antonio Felix DA COSTA MOTOPARK ACADEMY 1:39.016 22 0 1:37.252 29 0 1:37.252 +0.216 +0.051 4 Daniel RICCIARDO SG FORMULA 1:38.103 30 0 1:37.338 32 0 1:37.338 +0.302 +0.086 5 Jean Eric VERGNE SG DRIVERS PROJECT 1:37.822 31 0 1:37.447 30 0 1:37.447 +0.411 +0.109 6 Alex MORGAN FORTEC COMPETITION 1:39.455 16 0 1:37.449 23 0 1:37.449 +0.413 +0.002 7 Mathieu ARZENO TCS RACING 1:38.609 25 0 1:37.634 35 0 1:37.634 +0.598 +0.185 8 Roberto MERHI EPSILON EUSKADI 2 1:39.482 9 0 1:37.638 22 0 1:37.638 +0.602 +0.004 9 Andrea CALDARELLI SG FORMULA 1:38.656 25 0 1:37.638 32 0 1:37.638 +0.602 +0.000 10 Richard SINGLETON HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 1:38.971 29 0 1:37.723 17 0 1:37.723 +0.687 +0.085 11 Daniel ZAMPIERI BVM MINARDI TEAM 1:39.559 7 0 1:37.781 10 0 1:37.781 +0.745 +0.058 12 Michele FACCIN JENZER MOTORSPORT 0 1:38.665 19 0 1:37.816 12 1:37.816 +0.780 +0.035 13 Tobias HEGEWALD MOTOPARK ACADEMY 1:39.074 10 0 1:37.840 10 0 1:37.840 +0.804 +0.024 14 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS BVM MINARDI TEAM 1:38.788 26 0 1:37.861 30 0 1:37.861 +0.825 +0.021 15 Albert COSTA EPSILON EUSKADI 2 0 1:38.348 21 0 1:37.878 24 1:37.878 +0.842 +0.017 16 Dean SMITH FORTEC MOTORSPORT 0 1:39.149 19 0 1:37.879 24 1:37.879 +0.843 +0.001 17 Tristan VAUTIER SG FORMULA 0 1:38.645 25 0 1:37.886 24 1:37.886 +0.850 +0.007 18 Pal VARHAUG JENZER MOTORSPORT 1:39.215 27 0 1:37.941 17 0 1:37.941 +0.905 +0.055 19 Johan JOKINEN IQUICK 0 1:38.403 19 0 1:37.963 24 1:37.963 +0.927 +0.022 20 Gabriel DIAS FORTEC COMPETITION 0 1:39.894 10 0 1:37.997 20 1:37.997 +0.961 +0.034 21 Sergio CAMPANA PREMA POWERTEAM 1:38.848 30 0 1:38.018 27 0 1:38.018 +0.982 +0.021 22 Carlos MUÑOZ EPSILON EUSKADI 2 0 1:39.595 19 0 1:38.066 26 1:38.066 +1.030 +0.048 23 Cesar RAMOS BVM MINARDI TEAM 0 1:38.708 25 0 1:38.103 25 1:38.103 +1.067 +0.037 24 Richard CAMPOLLO EPSILON EUSKADI 1 0 1:39.285 7 0 1:38.105 26 1:38.105 +1.069 +0.002 25 Pablo MONTILLA EPSILON EUSKADI 1 1:39.298 21 0 1:38.134 22 0 1:38.134 +1.098 +0.029 26 Jake ROSENZWEIG EPSILON EUSKADI 1 0 1:39.490 12 0 1:38.148 32 1:38.148 +1.112 +0.014 27 Ramez AZZAM SG DRIVERS PROJECT 1:38.941 33 0 1:38.172 40 0 1:38.172 +1.136 +0.024 28 Bastien BORGET EPSILON SPORT 0 1:38.873 29 0 1:38.181 21 1:38.181 +1.145 +0.009 29 Patrick REITERER PREMA POWERTEAM 1:38.835 29 0 1:38.254 28 0 1:38.254 +1.218 +0.073 30 Miki MONRAS SG FORMULA 0 1:39.448 21 0 1:38.360 34 1:38.360 +1.324 +0.106 31 Anton NEBILITSKYI SG DRIVERS PROJECT 0 1:39.157 17 0 1:38.372 12 1:38.372 +1.336 +0.012 32 Dominic STOREY BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 1:40.240 7 0 1:38.378 16 0 1:38.378 +1.342 +0.006 33 Benajmin LARICHE POLE SERVICES 1:39.763 35 0 1:38.424 32 0 1:38.424 +1.388 +0.046 34 Daniel MCKENZIE FORTEC MOTORSPORT 1:40.246 11 0 1:38.444 25 0 1:38.444 +1.408 +0.020 35 Juan Pablo GARCÍA TEAM MOTOPARK 0 1:39.153 23 0 1:38.503 24 1:38.503 +1.467 +0.059 36 Antony TARDIEU POLE SERVICES 0 1:39.903 29 0 1:38.509 29 1:38.509 +1.473 +0.006 37 Nathanaël BERTHON BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 0 1:39.080 24 0 1:38.583 28 1:38.583 +1.547 +0.074 38 Julien ABELLI TCS RACING 1:40.169 26 0 1:38.636 13 0 1:38.636 +1.600 +0.053 39 Juan JACOBO HITECH JUNIOR RACING 0 1:39.755 15 0 1:38.666 26 1:38.666 +1.630 +0.030 40 Vinicius SAMMARONE TEAM MOTOPARK 0 1:39.346 29 0 1:38.686 21 1:38.686 +1.650 +0.020 41 Vasiliauskas KAZIMIERAS PREMA POWERTEAM 0 1:39.674 27 0 1:38.706 35 1:38.706 +1.670 +0.020 42 Ashley WALSH HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 1:39.870 7 0 1:38.754 9 0 1:38.754 +1.718 +0.048 43 Adam KOUT KRENEK MOTORSPORT 0 1:39.871 20 0 1:38.847 23 1:38.847 +1.811 +0.093 44 Miguel OTEGUI IQUICK 1:39.546 34 0 1:38.861 30 0 1:38.861 +1.825 +0.014 45 Maxime JOUSSE POLE SERVICES 1:40.251 30 0 1:39.002 32 0 1:39.002 +1.966 +0.141 46 Luciano BACHETA HITECH JUNIOR RACING 1:39.863 32 0 1:39.032 13 0 1:39.032 +1.996 +0.030 47 Arthur PIC TCS RACING 0 1:40.798 31 0 1:39.398 29 1:39.398 +2.362 +0.366 48 Luis SANTOS JENZER MOTORSPORT 0 1:40.790 9 0 1:39.853 22 1:39.853 +2.817 +0.455 49 Marcelo CONCHADO AMITER GALUPPO SPORT 1:41.167 16 0 1:40.463 12 0 1:40.463 +3.427 +0.610 50 Gonçalo ARAUJO 0 0 0 1:40.477 29 1:40.477 +3.441 +0.014 51 Azor DUEÑAS RODRIVE COMPETIÇOES 0 1:42.088 25 0 1:40.662 29 1:40.662 +3.626 +0.185 52 Pol ROSELL RODRIVE COMPETIÇOES 1:40.854 36 0 1:41.031 14 0 1:40.854 +3.818 +0.192 53 Alain SICART RODRIVE COMPETIÇOES 0 1:41.606 26 0 1:41.299 26 1:41.299 +4.263 +0.445 54 Fiorio DE SOUZA 0 1:42.394 9 0 1:42.106 8 1:42.106 +5.070 +0.807 55 Joffrey DIDIER RODRIVE COMPETIÇOES 0 1:42.970 21 0 1:43.588 25 1:42.970 +5.934 +0.864 56 Sara GARCIA RODRIVE COMPETIÇOES 1:45.690 17 0 1:43.281 5 0 1:43.281 +6.245 +0.311