Magny-Cours – Collective testing

After two long collective test sessions, Nelson Panciatici (Boutsen Energy Racing) and Mathieu Arzeno (Epsilon Sport) recorded the day's best times. With only 14/1000ths between them, the two friends both set their times towards the end of the morning session. This afternoon, it was Monaco driver Stefano Coletti (Epsilon Red Bull) who took the honours.

Mathieu Arzeno wasted little time this morning in getting into his stride: with only fifteen minutes gone, the Provence-based driver was the first to clock a sub-1'40'' lap. After half an hour, Brendon Hartley (Epsilon Red Bull) put together an impressive run of laps to break through the 1'39'' mark. No apparent sign, then, that the Eurocup leader was suffering from a virus!

It took Nelson Panciatici a good twenty minutes or so to beat the New Zealander's time. The on-form Arzeno improved shortly afterwards, before then being overtaken again by Nelson! With a new set of tyres, the new driver for the Boutsen Energy Racing team hammered home his advantage at the end of the session with a time of 1'38''223, a record that would stand for the rest of the day!

Mathieu Arzeno held onto second, ahead of Brendon Hartley and Frank Kechele (Motopark Academy). The top five was completed by the excellent Nelson Lukes (Epsilon Sport), a regular podium finisher in the French championship.

In fact, Lukes was the first out onto the track in the afternoon. But with seven minutes gone, Panciatici was the first to dip under the 1'39'' mark. The RDD driver improved again to 1'38''431, a time that topped the timing screens for most of the afternoon.

But with half an hour of testing left, Stefano Coletti took advantage of the slightly cooler conditions to set the session's best time of 1'38''274.

A podium finisher at Zolder, Budapest and Donington, Nelson Panciatici is determined to grab his first race win this weekend. The Parisian could move up to second place overall in the Eurocup! Mathieu Arzeno has a different goal for the weekend. He sees this as a good opportunity to prepare for the French championship race. He currently lies in second place behind Jules Bianchi (SG Formula), who finished with the best time in the sessions restricted to drivers from the national championship.

Winner of a race in Hungry and twice on the podium in the UK, Coletti seems to be the man in form as the end of the season approaches: «I have to thank my mechanics, because I went off twice at the Imola chicane. I was only able to get back on the track at the end of this afternoon's session. We found a good setup today and we still have a good day's work ahead of us tomorrow. I'm hoping to grab my first pole on Saturday!"

Fourth-placed Frank Kechele is keen to put his disastrous Sunday at Donington behind him, where he caused quite a pile up in the main field: «I learned a lot from my mistake and I'm sure it won't happen again. I am focused on driving well and sensibly in both races this weekend.»

Charles Pic was the third French driver to feature in the top five: «We worked very hard and I tried to improve my driving and my racing line through several corners. If everything goes well, I hope to win in front of my home fans!»

POS NUMBER DRIVER TEAM LAP TIME GAP_FIRST KPH LAPS 

1 34 Nelson PANCIATICI BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 31 1:38.223 - 161.7 42   2 49 Mathieu ARZENO EPSILON SPORT TEAM 51 1:38.237 +0.014 161.6 65   3 18 Brendon HARTLEY EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 40 1:38.523 +0.300 161.2 48   4 6 Frank KECHELE MOTOPARK ACADEMY 50 1:38.524 +0.301 161.2 53   5 48 Nelson LUKES BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 55 1:38.741 +0.518 160.8 60   6 22 Pierre COMBOT CRAM COMPETITION 37 1:38.771 +0.548 160.8 54   7 19 Jaime ALGUERSUARI EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 56 1:38.965 +0.742 160.5 58   8 15 Stefano COLETTI EPSILON EUSKADI 51 1:39.021 +0.798 160.4 60   9 39 Tristan VAUTIER GRAFF RACING 64 1:39.073 +0.850 160.3 68   10 2 Charles PIC SG FORMULA 16 1:39.078 +0.855 160.3 63   11 5 Oliver OAKES MOTOPARK ACADEMY 60 1:39.096 +0.873 160.2 61   12 11 Fabio LEIMER JENZER MOTORSPORT 8 1:39.125 +0.902 160.2 35   13 29 Mihai MARINESCU DISTRICT RACING 18 1:39.289 +1.066 159.9 52   14 3 Jon LANCASTER SG DRIVERS PROJECT 56 1:39.354 +1.131 159.8 60   15 28 Aleix ALCARAZ DISTRICT RACING 52 1:39.386 +1.163 159.8 55   16 4 Alexandre MARSOIN SG DRIVERS PROJECT 32 1:39.404 +1.181 159.7 54   17 26 Cesar RAMOS BVM MINARDI TEAM 45 1:39.410 +1.187 159.7 47   18 10 Roberto MERHI JENZER MOTORSPORT 12 1:39.470 +1.247 159.6 40   19 21 Daniele ZAMPIERI CRAM COMPETITION 16 1:39.514 +1.291 159.6 51   20 25 Henki WALDSCHMIDT PREMA POWERTEAM 56 1:39.521 +1.298 159.6 59   21 16 Mika MÄKI EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 23 1:39.536 +1.313 159.5 44   22 1 Edouard TEXTE SG FORMULA 17 1:39.538 +1.315 159.5 64   23 8 Tobias HEGEWALD MOTORSPORT ARENA 15 1:39.672 +1.449 159.3 18   24 27 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS BVM MINARDI TEAM 56 1:39.706 +1.483 159.3 74   25 7 Fabio ONIDI MOTORSPORT ARENA 39 1:39.780 +1.557 159.1 65   26 9 Oliver TURVEY JENZER MOTORSPORT 9 1:39.839 +1.616 159.1 20   27 32 Tiago PETIZ OMICRON RACING 37 1:39.839 +1.616 159.1 55   28 23 Andrea CALDARELLI PREMA POWERTEAM 58 1:39.949 +1.726 158.9 58   29 40 Gary HIRSCH GRAFF RACING 20 1:40.021 +1.798 158.8 47   30 12 Miquel JULIÀ EPSILON EUSKADI 11 1:40.026 +1.803 158.8 15   31 30 Facundo CROVO OMICRON RACING 46 1:40.070 +1.847 158.7 62   32 14 Pablo MONTILLA EPSILON EUSKADI 53 1:40.115 +1.892 158.6 55   33 24 Martin PLOWMAN PREMA POWERTEAM 31 1:40.224 +2.001 158.4 57   34 35 Anton NEBILTSKIY SL FORMULA 54 1:40.319 +2.096 158.3 56   35 46 Nicolas MARROC TCS 29 1:40.484 +2.261 158.0 67   36 20 Sergio CAMPANA CRAM COMPETITION 19 1:41.103 +2.880 157.1 43   37 36 Pedro NUNES SL FORMULA 30 1:41.265 +3.042 156.8 42   38 33 Stephane RICHELMI BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 27 1:41.327 +3.104 156.7 31   39 31 Francesc MORENO OMICRON RACING 27 1:42.042 +3.819 155.6 28  

POS NUMBER DRIVER TEAM LAP TIME GAP_FIRST KPH LAPS 1 15 Stefano COLETTI EPSILON EUSKADI 12 1:38.274 - 161.6 16   2 6 Frank KECHELE MOTOPARK ACADEMY 29 1:38.423 +0.149 161.3 30   3 2 Charles PIC SG FORMULA 50 1:38.427 +0.153 161.3 53   4 34 Nelson PANCIATICI BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 8 1:38.431 +0.157 161.3 36   5 49 Mathieu ARZENO EPSILON SPORT TEAM 42 1:38.432 +0.158 161.3 43   6 18 Brendon HARTLEY EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 29 1:38.514 +0.240 161.2 32   7 28 Aleix ALCARAZ DISTRICT RACING 53 1:38.710 +0.436 160.9 53   8 5 Oliver OAKES MOTOPARK ACADEMY 38 1:38.720 +0.446 160.9 41   9 10 Roberto MERHI JENZER MOTORSPORT 28 1:38.792 +0.518 160.7 33   10 22 Pierre COMBOT CRAM COMPETITION 43 1:38.814 +0.540 160.7 55   11 4 Alexandre MARSOIN SG DRIVERS PROJECT 33 1:38.825 +0.551 160.7 36   12 29 Mihai MARINESCU DISTRICT RACING 37 1:38.845 +0.571 160.7 43   13 3 Jon LANCASTER SG DRIVERS PROJECT 42 1:38.853 +0.579 160.6 46   14 16 Mika MÄKI EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 23 1:38.922 +0.648 160.5 41   15 19 Jaime ALGUERSUARI EPSILON RED BULL TEAM 31 1:38.929 +0.655 160.5 37   16 11 Fabio LEIMER JENZER MOTORSPORT 33 1:38.984 +0.710 160.4 38   17 48 Nelson LUKES BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 23 1:39.003 +0.729 160.4 30   18 27 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS BVM MINARDI TEAM 35 1:39.030 +0.756 160.4 47   19 24 Martin PLOWMAN PREMA POWERTEAM 48 1:39.153 +0.879 160.2 48   20 23 Andrea CALDARELLI PREMA POWERTEAM 44 1:39.244 +0.970 160.0 46   21 7 Fabio ONIDI MOTORSPORT ARENA 24 1:39.262 +0.988 160.0 40   22 25 Henki WALDSCHMIDT PREMA POWERTEAM 54 1:39.269 +0.995 160.0 54   23 21 Daniele ZAMPIERI CRAM COMPETITION 28 1:39.324 +1.050 159.9 32   24 26 Cesar RAMOS BVM MINARDI TEAM 11 1:39.355 +1.081 159.8 29   25 20 Sergio CAMPANA CRAM COMPETITION 51 1:39.410 +1.136 159.7 54   26 9 Oliver TURVEY JENZER MOTORSPORT 29 1:39.499 +1.225 159.6 30   27 40 Gary HIRSCH GRAFF RACING 35 1:39.630 +1.356 159.4 48   28 39 Tristan VAUTIER GRAFF RACING 5 1:39.678 +1.404 159.3 48   29 35 Anton NEBILTSKIY SL FORMULA 37 1:39.685 +1.411 159.3 40   30 32 Tiago PETIZ OMICRON RACING 22 1:39.906 +1.632 158.9 46   31 30 Facundo CROVO OMICRON RACING 31 1:40.063 +1.789 158.7 43   32 12 Miquel JULIÀ EPSILON EUSKADI 52 1:40.065 +1.791 158.7 52   33 33 Stephane RICHELMI BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 32 1:40.067 +1.793 158.7 51   34 14 Pablo MONTILLA EPSILON EUSKADI 42 1:40.119 +1.845 158.6 47   35 36 Pedro NUNES SL FORMULA 41 1:40.517 +2.243 158.0 44   36 1 Edouard TEXTE SG FORMULA 14 1:40.585 +2.311 157.9 17   37 46 Nicolas MARROC TCS 16 1:40.673 +2.399 157.7 46   38 31 Francesc MORENO OMICRON RACING 49 1:40.907 +2.633 157.4 50   39 8 Tobias HEGEWALD MOTORSPORT ARENA 0       0