Hungaroring – Collective testing – Day 1

For the first time this season, Charles Pic is competing at a circuit that is not new to him. And the Tech 1 Racing made his experience count as he took the fastest time of this first day of Formula Renault 3.5 Series collective testing. In contrast, Robert Wickens (Carlin Motorsport) has never driven here before. That didn't stop him clocking the day's second fastest time, however, just a few hundredths of a second behind Pic. For the 26 Formula Renault 3.5 Series drivers, the Hungarian meeting begins with five and a half hours of collective testing, with two 2-hour sessions today (Thursday) and two 45-minute sessions on Friday.

Brazilian driver Claudio Cantelli, who started the season with Ultimate Signature, has now taken Aleix Alcaraz's place at RC Motorsport, while Alcaraz replaces Maximo Cortes at Pons Racing.

At the Hungaroring, the early sessions are always tricky due to the dust on the track. As might have been expected, the times got quicker as the first session went on, as seven drivers in turn claimed the lead.

With a lap clocked at 1'35''100 thirty minutes into the session, Charles Pic (Tech 1 Racing) was the first driver to set a time of note. The winner of the last race, Robert Wickens (Carlin Motorsport) eventually surpassed him with a time of 1'34''255. Shortly afterwards, the action was interrupted as Guillaume Moreau (KTR) lost control of his car and crashed with quite some force into the safety barrier. His Formula Renault 3.5 (No. 17) briefly caught fire and the damage sustained was sufficiently serious to keep it out of action for the rest of the day.

In the last ten minutes, the standings changed considerably. First Wickens improved his time, then Miguel Molina (Prema Powerteam) moved past him into first place, where he would remain for the rest of the session. Robert Wickens took the second fastest time, ahead of Alvaro Barba (Prema Powerteam), Charles Pic and Fabio Carbone (Ultimate Signature).

The drivers cranked things up a notch in the second session. Robert Wickens was the first to beat Molina's time. Bertrand Baguette (International Draco) then took the lead with a time of 1'33''852. As is so often the case on the first day of testing, the drivers and their teams were keeping a close eye on their rivals to see who would opt to slip on a fresh set of tyres. Around the halfway mark, Julien Jousse (Tech 1 Racing) took this option, and with it the lead.

There were changes in the standings until the very end. Robert Wickens moved back in front, before being relegated to second place by Charles Pic with a quarter of an hour to go. Alvaro Barba, Esteban Guerrieri and Julien Jousse completed the top 5.

Charles Pic: It's a real advantage to finally be driving on a circuit I'm familiar with. I didn't need to spend time getting to know the track and so we were able to get straight down to business. I think there's still something not quite right with the engine or the gearbox, but all in all I'm really happy with the way my car is handling.

Robert Wickens: It's the first time I've driven here. I love the technically demanding circuits, so this track appeals to me. We constantly improved the car's setup, in terms of both handling and braking. I won at Silverstone a month ago, then got on the podium in F3 Euro Series last week, so it would be good to keep that run of form going!

Pos Driver Team Time S1 Lap S1 Time S2 Lap S2 Time Gap First Gap Previous 

1 Charles PIC TECH 1 RACING 1:34.269 34 1:32.561 24 1:32.561       2 Robert WICKENS CARLIN MOTORSPORT 1:34.255 21 1:32.582 23 1:32.582 +0.021 +0.021   3 Alvaro BARBA PREMA POWERTEAM 1:34.265 27 1:33.129 28 1:33.129 +0.568 +0.547   4 Esteban GUERRIERI ULTIMATE-SIGNATURE 1:36.399 24 1:33.287 30 1:33.287 +0.726 +0.158   5 Julien JOUSSE TECH 1 RACING 1:35.085 21 1:33.391 15 1:33.391 +0.830 +0.104   6 Salvador DURAN INTERWETTEN.COM RACING 1:35.716 11 1:33.488 24 1:33.488 +0.927 +0.097   7 Giedo Van Der GARDE P1 MOTORSPORT 1:34.896 24 1:33.493 29 1:33.493 +0.932 +0.005   8 Miguel MOLINA PREMA POWERTEAM 1:34.167 24 1:33.520 16 1:33.520 +0.959 +0.027   9 Fabio CARBONE ULTIMATE-SIGNATURE 1:34.559 33 1:33.538 19 1:33.538 +0.977 +0.018   10 Marco BARBA INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 1:34.733 27 1:33.723 26 1:33.723 +1.162 +0.185   11 Bertrand BAGUETTE INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 1:34.599 25 1:33.851 28 1:33.851 +1.290 +0.128   12 Alexandre MARSOIN EPSILON-EUSKADI 1:36.337 19 1:33.874 25 1:33.874 +1.313 +0.023   13 Aleix ALCARAZ PONS RACING 1:35.176 25 1:34.078 24 1:34.078 +1.517 +0.204   14 Marcos MARTINEZ PONS RACING 1:35.226 22 1:34.113 15 1:34.113 +1.552 +0.035   15 Marco BONANOMI RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 1:36.585 16 1:34.157 10 1:34.157 +1.596 +0.044   16 Fairuz FAUZY FORTEC MOTORSPORT 1:35.420 20 1:34.163 27 1:34.163 +1.602 +0.006   17 Pablo SANCHEZ INTERWETTEN.COM RACING 1:37.404 8 1:34.298 22 1:34.298 +1.737 +0.135   18 Mikhail ALESHIN CARLIN MOTORSPORT 1:37.014 10 1:34.432 24 1:34.432 +1.871 +0.134   19 Pippa MANN P1 MOTORSPORT 1:36.398 30 1:34.490 17 1:34.490 +1.929 +0.058   20 Pasquale DiSABATINO RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 1:36.302 12 1:34.512 21 1:34.512 +1.951 +0.022   21 James WALKER FORTEC MOTORSPORT 1:34.813 29 1:34.558 6 1:34.558 +1.997 +0.046   22 Claudio CANTELLI RC MOTORSPORT 1:36.102 37 1:34.898 25 1:34.898 +2.337 +0.340   23 Mario ROMANCINI EPSILON-EUSKADI 1:36.878 25 1:34.947 21 1:34.947 +2.386 +0.049   24 Daniil MOVE KTR 1:38.209 19 1:35.728 22 1:35.728 +3.167 +0.781   25 Duncan TAPPY RC MOTORSPORT 1:36.784 13 1:35.824 16 1:35.824 +3.263 +0.096   26 Guillaume MOREAU KTR 1:35.840 12   0 1:35.840 +3.279 +0.016