Next stop Monza!
The World Series Formula Renault 3.5 teams completed their final pre-season test session at the Nürburgring today. Just like yesterday, Alvaro Barba (Draco Multiracing USA) and Alvaro Parente (Tech 1 Racing) were the quickest drivers on the German circuit. And like yesterday, they enjoyed fine spring weather in the Eifel mountains. With a constant temperature throughout the day and relatively few red flags, the thirty participating drivers were able to complete a successful day of testing. Different teams had different objectives: while some continued to tinker with their setups, others were striving to clock fast times in preparation for qualifying.Alvaro Parente, who recorded the best time on Tuesday morning, repeated the feat in the first session, providing further evidence to suggest that Tech 1 Racing will be a force to be reckoned with. The Portuguese driver's time of 1'44''196 was five tenths of a second quicker than Barba's best time. Having won three races last year, Alvaro is determined to claim the title this season: «The car is good, the team is doing a good job and I get on well with Julien Jousse. Everything's going great, but we need to keep up the good work at Monza!»Behind Parente, Carlin Motorsport's drivers both performed well. Mikhail Aleshin and Sebastian Vettel finished the session 50 hundredths of second and one tenth of a second behind Parente respectively, continuing the British team's rich vein of form.Guillaume Moreau (KTR), who had had a quiet time of things in previous test sessions, also made the leading pack with the fourth fastest time. «In Barcelona, I was red-flagged in every session,» said Moreau. «Yesterday, I had a mechanical problem that stopped me from driving. But this morning everything went OK and I was finally able to get a few kilometres under my belt and find out a few things about the car. There's still everything to play for, and I'm optimistic.»The afternoon belonged to Draco. Just like yesterday, Alvaro Barba clocked the best time, surpassing Parente's effort with 1'44''145. «Everything's going great, obviously. To get the fastest time yesterday and today was the perfect result. I can't wait for Monza!» With the second fastest time of the afternoon, Milos Pavlovic was once again among the leaders: «The winter tests are finished now and I'm delighted with the way things have gone,» said Pavlovic. «We have kept on improving the car and I feel really comfortable driving it. The Draco team are ready for the first race. I wish it was tomorrow!»In third was Giedo van der Garde (Victory Engineering), who was also pleased with his work during the two days of testing: «I didn't go to Barcelona, so I was happy to get my first test session under my belt here. The team has worked well over the two days. Every time we put on a set of fresh tyres we were really in the running. I'll be at Monza for the first race. Winning might be difficult, but I'm determined to score as many points as possible from the start. The championship is important for me.»POS # DRIVER TEAM 28/3 M 28/3 A BEST1 4 BARBA INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 1:45.213 1:44.145 1:44.1452 32 PARENTE TECH 1 RACING 1:44.196 1:45.453 1:44.1963 7 ALESHIN CARLIN MOTORSPORT 1:44.247 1:45.036 1:44.2474 8 VETTEL CARLIN MOTORSPORT 1:44.300 1:44.3005 3 PAVLOVIC INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 1:44.890 1:44.363 1:44.3636 14 MOREAU KTR 1:44.531 1:45.298 1:44.5317 11 VAN DER GARDE VICTORY ENGINEERING 1:46.695 1:44.660 1:44.6608 6 NUNEZ RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 1:44.665 1:45.249 1:44.6659 19 FAUZY CRAM COMPETITION 1:44.682 1:44.916 1:44.68210 5 VAN LAGEN RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 1:45.197 1:44.765 1:44.76511 10 BONANOMI RC MOTORSPORT 1:44.795 1:45.351 1:44.79512 9 PICCIONE RC MOTORSPORT 1:44.817 1:45.480 1:44.81713 18 HANLEY PREMA POWERTEAM 1:45.511 1:44.824 1:44.82414 15 BAGUETTE KTR 1:45.576 1:44.854 1:44.85415 27 McINTOSH GD RACING 1:44.952 1:45.242 1:44.95216 31 JOUSSE TECH 1 RACING 1:44.973 1:46.384 1:44.97317 1 DURAN INTERWETTEN.COM 1:45.442 1:44.977 1:44.97718 21 ALBUQUERQUE EPSILON EUSKADI 1:45.139 1:45.590 1:45.13919 22 VALSECCHI EPSILON EUSKADI 1:45.173 1:46.059 1:45.17320 30 PHILIPPE FORTEC MOTORSPORT 1:45.404 1:46.210 1:45.40421 12 KIMBALL VICTORY ENGINEERING 1:46.371 1:45.503 1:45.50322 28 DI SABATINO GD RACING 1:45.605 1:45.568 1:45.56823 24 IACONELLI PONS RACING 1:45.758 1:45.634 1:45.63424 20 MANN CRAM COMPETITION 1:45.888 1:46.596 1:45.88825 29 WALKER FORTEC MOTORSPORT 1:45.962 1:45.901 1:45.90126 23 MOLINA PONS RACING 1:46.766 1:45.917 1:45.91727 2 MOVE INTERWETTEN.COM 1:45.926 1:46.703 1:45.92628 26 CIOMPI EUROINTERNATIONAL 1:46.062 1:46.742 1:46.06229 25 MIGUEZ EUROINTERNATIONAL 1:46.208 1:46.648 1:46.20830 16 MAASSEN PREMA POWERTEAM 1:50.414 1:46.710 1:46.710