First blood to Bottas

Nurburgring – Collective testing

Supported by his team, Motopark Academy, Valtteri Bottas set the tempo to finish comfortably ahead in collective testing at the Nürburgring circuit yesterday. The Finn finished ahead of Roberto Mehri (Epsilon Euskadi) and Andrea Caldarelli (SG Formula).

The sky was threatening and the atmosphere wet as the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 competitors took to the track. All the drivers nevertheless opted to start on slick tyres with a few spectacular maneuvers marking the start of the session.

The holder of the fastest lap changed constantly during the first ten minutes. Dean Smith (Fortec Motorsport), Luciano Bacheta (Hitech Junior Racing), Daniel Zampieri (BVM Minardi Team) and Andrea Caldarelli set themselves apart, taking it in turns to move to the top of the time sheet.

A newcomer to the circuit, British driver Dean Smith took control of the session with a lap time of 2'02''864. «I've never driven here.» Smith mused, «This circuit is interesting, but it's difficult to take risks in these conditions. You really had to be careful because the track was quite tricky.»

In the end, Andrea Caldarelli set the fastest lap of the morning with a time of 2'02''366. He finished ahead of Calos Munoz (Epsilon Euskadi) and Stéphane Richelmi (Epsilon Sport), who were also making headway in the final few moments.

It is worth noting that Ricciardo (SG Formula) did not take part in this first session. The Australian received a penalty for driving in a Formula 3 Euro Series race at the Nürburgring, the national circuit, in July.

The conditions had improved at the start of the afternoon. Without wasting any time, Tobias Hegewald (Motopark Academy) improved on the fastest lap set that morning. As the minutes passed, Andrea Caldarelli, Valtteri Bottas (Motopark Academy) and Daniel Ricciardo took it in turns hold the top spot.

Halfway through the session, Bottas appeared to have the upper hand, but Caldarelli hit back to take the lead in 1'59''323. Valtteri Bottas came back onto the track at the end of the session to improve on the fastest lap twice.

One final attempt right at the end of the session put him out of reach once and for all. With a lap time of 1'58''201, he was the fastest driver of the day in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. «I know the Nürburgring well and I love the circuit.» said the Eurocup's flying Finn. «This morning we decided not to do too much driving as the conditions weren't good. We are taking part in the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC this weekend, so we won't be short of track time! I'm fairly confident, my time was good considering the conditions.»

Roberto Merhi snatched the second fastest lap at the end of the session. »The gap is quite large with Bottas. That said, I didn't get a single lap without traffic. We still have work to do, but we're heading in the right direction." explained the Epsilon Euskadi driver.

Andrea Caldarelli finished third, just ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo and Tobias Hegewald, the only German driver present this weekend. «We've got a great car for the circuit. All that's missing now to take pole is a little performance, but we have a few ideas on how to change the car that way.» said the Italian.

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

1 Valtteri BOTTAS MOTOPARK ACADEMY 2:03.893 4 1:58.201 14 1:58.201       2 Roberto MERHI EPSILON EUSKADI 2 2:03.030 6 1:58.804 12 1:58.804 +0.603 +0.603   3 Andrea CALDARELLI SG FORMULA 2:02.366 16 1:58.824 11 1:58.824 +0.623 +0.020   4 Daniel RICCIARDO SG FORMULA   0 1:59.051 11 1:59.051 +0.850 +0.227   5 Tobias HEGEWALD MOTOPARK ACADEMY 2:04.583 6 1:59.167 14 1:59.167 +0.966 +0.116   6  Anton NEBILITSKYI SG DRIVERS PROJECT 2:04.797 7 1:59.260 12 1:59.260 +1.059 +0.093   7 Kuba GIERMAZIAK TEAM MOTOPARK 2:07.602 7 1:59.270 14 1:59.270 +1.069 +0.010   8 Dean SMITH FORTEC MOTORSPORT 2:02.864 8 1:59.280 12 1:59.280 +1.079 +0.010   9 Carlos MUÑOZ EPSILON EUSKADI 2 2:02.692 14 1:59.303 15 1:59.303 +1.102 +0.023   10 Alex MORGAN FORTEC COMPETITION 2:03.030 8 1:59.309 14 1:59.309 +1.108 +0.006   11 Jean Eric VERGNE SG DRIVERS PROJECT 2:03.911 16 1:59.425 11 1:59.425 +1.224 +0.116   12 Antonio Felix DA COSTA MOTOPARK ACADEMY 2:10.371 6 1:59.428 17 1:59.428 +1.227 +0.003   13 Albert COSTA EPSILON EUSKADI 2 2:04.161 8 1:59.436 13 1:59.436 +1.235 +0.008   14 Michele FACCIN JENZER MOTORSPORT 2:04.607 16 1:59.494 12 1:59.494 +1.293 +0.058   15 Miki MONRAS HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 2:06.032 15 1:59.547 15 1:59.547 +1.346 +0.053   16 Paul MEIJER EPSILON SPORT 2:11.363 8 1:59.582 5 1:59.582 +1.381 +0.035   17 Luciano BACHETA HITECH JUNIOR RACING 2:02.918 14 1:59.596 14 1:59.596 +1.395 +0.014   18 Sergio CAMPANA PREMA POWERTEAM 2:05.500 7 1:59.773 15 1:59.773 +1.572 +0.177   19 Christopher ZANELLA JENZER MOTORSPORT 2:04.895 7 1:59.845 12 1:59.845 +1.644 +0.072   20 Vinicius SAMMARONE TEAM MOTOPARK 2:05.649 8 1:59.884 12 1:59.884 +1.683 +0.039   21 Gabriel DIAS FORTEC COMPETITION 2:04.962 16 1:59.903 16 1:59.903 +1.702 +0.019   22 Richard SINGLETON HITECH JUNIOR TEAM 2:03.214 13 1:59.911 9 1:59.911 +1.710 +0.008   23 Jake ROSENZWEIG EPSILON EUSKADI 1 2:04.590 12 1:59.962 11 1:59.962 +1.761 +0.051   24 Cesar RAMOS BVM MINARDI TEAM 2:04.100 6 1:59.999 11 1:59.999 +1.798 +0.037   25 Daniel ZAMPIERI BVM MINARDI TEAM 2:03.460 6 2:00.104 13 2:00.104 +1.903 +0.105   26 Richard CAMPOLLO EPSILON EUSKADI 1 2:03.448 12 2:00.197 14 2:00.197 +1.996 +0.093   27 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS BVM MINARDI TEAM 2:05.363 8 2:00.292 12 2:00.292 +2.091 +0.095   28 Stephane RICHELMI EPSILON SPORT 2:02.770 12 2:00.341 12 2:00.341 +2.140 +0.049   29 Pablo MONTILLA EPSILON EUSKADI 1 2:05.398 12 2:00.406 13 2:00.406 +2.205 +0.065   30 Patrick REITERER PREMA POWERTEAM 2:09.838 11 2:00.457 15 2:00.457 +2.256 +0.051   31 Pal VARHAUG JENZER MOTORSPORT 2:06.270 14 2:00.510 10 2:00.510 +2.309 +0.053   32 Juan JACOBO HITECH JUNIOR RACING 2:18.577 3 2:00.552 9 2:00.552 +2.351 +0.042   33 Daniel MCKENZIE FORTEC MOTORSPORT 2:03.608 15 2:00.559 14 2:00.559 +2.358 +0.007   34 Adam KOUT KRENEK MOTORSPORT 2:06.241 8 2:00.634 12 2:00.634 +2.433 +0.075   35 Nicolas MARROC TCS RACING 2:07.650 16 2:00.795 17 2:00.795 +2.594 +0.161   36 Himar ACOSTA IQUICK 2:09.330 12 2:00.812 11 2:00.812 +2.611 +0.017   37 Vasiliauskas KAZIMIERAS PREMA POWERTEAM 2:06.165 12 2:00.833 13 2:00.833 +2.632 +0.021   38 Juan Pablo GARCÍA TEAM MOTOPARK 2:05.454 13 2:00.880 13 2:00.880 +2.679 +0.047   39 Nathanaël BERTHON BOUTSEN ENERGY RACING 2:09.278 6 2:01.029 13 2:01.029 +2.828 +0.149   40 Miguel OTEGUI IQUICK 2:11.732 5 2:01.034 15 2:01.034 +2.833 +0.005   41 Ramez AZZAM SG DRIVERS PROJECT 2:03.848 14 2:01.487 11 2:01.487 +3.286 +0.453   42 Dino BUTORAC RB RACING TEAM 2:13.274 11 2:04.372 11 2:04.372 +6.171 +2.885