Boost for Bottas  - Estoril – Collective Testing 2

With the four-man battle for the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 between Valtteri Bottas (Motopark Academy), Roberto Merhi (Epsilon Euskadi), Andrea Caldarelli (SG Formula) and Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula) set to continue this weekend, Bottas gained a valuable psychological edge by clocking the day's fastest time. Ricciardo, meanwhile, made an early exit…

Group 2The sun was still shining, and so was Valtteri Bottas... Tristan Vautier (SG Formula), Gabriel Dias (Fortec Motorsport) and Johan Jokinen (IQuick) were all impressive early on, the Danish driver taking the lead with a time of 1'37"361.

The weather conditions were ideal and quicker times followed as the end of the session approached. Michele Faccin (Jenzer Motorsport) briefly climbed to the top of the time sheets, but Valtteri Bottas was yet to have his say. The Finn was the first to drop below the 1'37 mark. Times of 1'36''530 then 1'36''507 put him head and shoulders above his rivals.

In warmer conditions, the afternoon session was a quieter affair. With five minutes to go, Tristan Vautier was leading. Albert Costa (Epsilon Euskadi) was the first man to better him, before history repeated itself as Valtteri Bottas claimed the lead. Bottas did not improve on his time from the morning, but still came out with the fastest time of the session, with Michele Faccin in second.

Group 1In Group 1, Jean-Éric Vergne (SG Formula) was the first man to really hit his stride. The Frenchman took an early lead, before Alex Morgan (Fortec Motorsport) dislodged him midway through the session.

Daniel Ricciardo then strung together a series of rapid times. The Australian improved lap on lap. A time of 1'37''093 put him top of the pile, with Morgan second and Pal Varhaug (Jenzer Motorsport) in third. The action was then interrupted as Antonio Felix da Costa (Motopark Academy) crashed off.

The afternoon session was notable initially for Daniel Ricciardo's crash. Daniel lost control of his car on the second bend and hit the safety railings. He would take no further part in proceedings.

Roberto Merhi, who had had a quiet time of things so far in testing here, will be feeling more confident after clocking the fastest time of the afternoon, ahead of Pal Varhaug.  The Spaniard's time was well short of that set by Valtteri Bottas, however. The title race is still very much on!

Valtteri Bottas: "We have had two really good days of testing. Our car is performing well on new tyres and old. I need to put in a similar performance tomorrow, but this was a good start to the weekend. It puts a bit of pressure on my rivals. But I mustn't think about them. I just have to stay focused on my goal."

Roberto Merhi: "I'm feeling a little better this afternoon, but my time was still well short of Bottas's! I got stuck in the pack this morning. But our setup is much better than yesterday."

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 1:36.507 11   0 1:36.780 9 1:36.507       2 Michele FACCIN JENZER MOTORSPORT   0 1:37.117 12   0 1:37.058 12 1:37.058 +0.551 +0.551   3 Daniel RICCIARDO SG FORMULA 1:37.093 6   0 1:38.930 3   0 1:37.093 +0.586 +0.035   4 Alex MORGAN FORTEC COMPETITION 1:37.173 11   0 1:38.232 9   0 1:37.173 +0.666 +0.080   5 Albert COSTA EPSILON EUSKADI 2   0 1:37.495 11   0 1:37.223 8 1:37.223 +0.716 +0.050   6 Dean SMITH FORTEC MOTORSPORT   0 1:37.256 12   0 1:38.460 5 1:37.256 +0.749 +0.033   7 Gabriel DIAS FORTEC COMPETITION   0 1:37.333 10   0 1:38.779 11 1:37.333 +0.826 +0.077   8 Juan Pablo GARCÍA TEAM MOTOPARK   0 1:37.334 10   0 1:37.549 10 1:37.334 +0.827 +0.001   9 Johan JOKINEN IQUICK   0 1:37.361 10   0   0 1:37.361 +0.854 +0.027   10 Roberto MERHI EPSILON EUSKADI 2 1:38.430 5   0 1:37.455 5   0 1:37.455 +0.948 +0.094   11 Jake ROSENZWEIG EPSILON EUSKADI 1   0 1:38.171 12   0 1:37.528 13 1:37.528 +1.021 +0.073   12 Pal VARHAUG JENZER MOTORSPORT 1:37.645 9   0 1:37.569 7   0 1:37.569 +1.062 +0.041   13 Antonio Felix DA COSTA MOTOPARK ACADEMY 1:37.728 9   0 1:37.587 9   0 1:37.587 +1.080 +0.018   14 Tristan VAUTIER SG FORMULA   0 1:37.669 4   0 1:37.852 9 1:37.669 +1.162 +0.082   15 Kuba GIERMAZIAK TEAM MOTOPARK 1:37.725 11   0 1:37.684 7   0 1:37.684 +1.177 +0.015   16 Jean Eric VERGNE SG DRIVERS PROJECT 1:38.020 10   0 1:37.739 8   0 1:37.739 +1.232 +0.055   17 Cesar RAMOS BVM MINARDI TEAM   0 1:38.543 8   0 1:37.746 12 1:37.746 +1.239 +0.007   18 Miki MONRAS SG FORMULA   0 1:38.340 11   0 1:37.755 10 1:37.755 +1.248 +0.009   19 Tobias HEGEWALD MOTOPARK ACADEMY 1:38.196 8   0 1:37.833 7   0 1:37.833 +1.326 +0.078   20 Richard SINGLETON HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 1:37.998 7   0 1:37.851 8   0 1:37.851 +1.344 +0.018   21 Mathieu ARZENO TCS RACING 1:39.072 4   0 1:37.897 8   0 1:37.897 +1.390 +0.046   22 Richard CAMPOLLO EPSILON EUSKADI 1   0 1:38.353 7   0 1:37.905 10 1:37.905 +1.398 +0.008   23  Anton NEBILITSKYI SG DRIVERS PROJECT   0 1:38.498 12   0 1:37.905 13 1:37.905 +1.398 +0.000   24 Dominic STOREY BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 1:38.509 7   0 1:37.932 8   0 1:37.932 +1.425 +0.027   25 Luciano BACHETA HITECH JUNIOR RACING 1:37.948 10   0 1:38.816 8   0 1:37.948 +1.441 +0.016   26 Juan JACOBO HITECH JUNIOR RACING   0 1:38.366 10   0 1:37.959 10 1:37.959 +1.452 +0.011   27 Ramez AZZAM SG DRIVERS PROJECT 1:37.975 11   0 1:38.212 8   0 1:37.975 +1.468 +0.016   28 Vasiliauskas KAZIMIERAS PREMA POWERTEAM   0 1:37.982 13   0 1:38.206 9 1:37.982 +1.475 +0.007   29 Sergio CAMPANA PREMA POWERTEAM 1:38.309 6   0 1:37.986 9   0 1:37.986 +1.479 +0.004   30 Andrea CALDARELLI SG FORMULA 1:38.278 7   0 1:38.000 7   0 1:38.000 +1.493 +0.014   31 Carlos MUÑOZ EPSILON EUSKADI 2   0 1:38.039 5   0 1:38.118 10 1:38.039 +1.532 +0.039   32 Nathanaël BERTHON BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING   0 1:39.132 9   0 1:38.049 11 1:38.049 +1.542 +0.010   33 Daniel MCKENZIE FORTEC MOTORSPORT 1:38.128 4   0 1:39.079 9   0 1:38.128 +1.621 +0.079   34 Adam KOUT KRENEK MOTORSPORT   0 1:38.181 9   0 1:38.731 13 1:38.181 +1.674 +0.053   35 Bastien BORGET EPSILON SPORT   0 1:38.566 12   0 1:38.188 5 1:38.188 +1.681 +0.007   36 Patrick REITERER PREMA POWERTEAM 1:38.835 4   0 1:38.197 6   0 1:38.197 +1.690 +0.009   37 Ashley WALSH HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 1:38.361 6   0 1:38.270 7   0 1:38.270 +1.763 +0.073   38 Vinicius SAMMARONE TEAM MOTOPARK   0 1:38.579 11   0 1:38.315 12 1:38.315 +1.808 +0.045   39 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS BVM MINARDI TEAM 1:38.319 7   0 1:38.439 6   0 1:38.319 +1.812 +0.004   40 Julien ABELLI TCS RACING 1:38.718 8   0 1:38.327 7   0 1:38.327 +1.820 +0.008   41 Daniel ZAMPIERI BVM MINARDI TEAM 1:38.860 7   0 1:38.390 7   0 1:38.390 +1.883 +0.063   42 Antony TARDIEU POLE SERVICES   0 1:38.854 5   0 1:38.496 12 1:38.496 +1.989 +0.106   43 Miguel OTEGUI IQUICK 1:39.637 8   0 1:38.545 11   0 1:38.545 +2.038 +0.049   44 Benajmin LARICHE POLE SERVICES 1:39.239 7   0 1:38.581 9   0 1:38.581 +2.074 +0.036   45 Pablo MONTILLA EPSILON EUSKADI 1 1:38.581 10   0 1:39.712 9   0 1:38.581 +2.074 +0.000   46 Luis SANTOS JENZER MOTORSPORT   0 1:39.486 4   0 1:39.066 12 1:39.066 +2.559 +0.485   47 Maxime JOUSSE POLE SERVICES 1:39.685 10   0 1:39.211 8   0 1:39.211 +2.704 +0.145   48 Marcelo CONCHADO AMITER GALUPPO SPORT 1:39.771 5   0 1:39.946 6   0 1:39.771 +3.264 +0.560   49 Pol ROSELL RODRIVE COMPETIÇOES 1:40.555 7   0 1:39.830 10   0 1:39.830 +3.323 +0.059   50 Gonçalo ARAUJO     0   0   0 1:40.151 11 1:40.151 +3.644 +0.321   51 Fiorio DE SOUZA     0 1:41.754 8   0 1:40.577 7 1:40.577 +4.070 +0.426   52 Azor DUEÑAS RODRIVE COMPETIÇOES   0 1:41.154 8   0 1:41.310 16 1:41.154 +4.647 +0.577   53 Alain SICART RODRIVE COMPETIÇOES   0 1:41.257 14   0 1:41.453 6 1:41.257 +4.750 +0.103   54 Joffrey DIDIER RODRIVE COMPETIÇOES   0 1:44.646 5   0 1:46.928 4 1:44.646 +8.139 +3.389   55 Sara GARCIA RODRIVE COMPETIÇOES   0   0   0   0         56 Arthur PIC TCS RACING   0   0   0   0