Carlos Sainz Junior follows up
Already the fastest driver in the group testing organized last week at the Paul Ricard HTTT, Carlos Sainz Junior (Koiranen Motorsport) followed up his performance with a similar exploit at Motorland Aragn. The young Spaniard (16) was once again at the top of the timesheets after these two days of testing. Robin Frijns (Josef Kauffmann Racing) is looking like his main challenger for the moment, in a compact peloton that augurs for an intense season ahead.
TA few days after the first outing of the season at Paul Ricard HTTT, the competitors in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 had moved west to the Spanish border and then southwards down to Motorland Aragn by Sunday. This week, the Spanish circuit hosts three of the four disciplines of the World Series by Renault, namely the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, then Formula Renault 3.5 and at the end of the week the Eurocup Mgane Trophy, making for a very full week of collective testing.
Having pulled off the fastest time in collective testing at Paul Ricard last week, Carlos Sainz Junior underlined his good form by being quickest off the mark on Sunday morning. With a lap time of 1'56''043, the Spanish driver got himself ahead of Robin Frijns and Daniil Kvyat (Koiranen Motorsport), also prominent at Paul Ricard.
Carlos Sainz continued to dominate on Sunday afternoon, but when the temperature dropped late in the day, Robin Frijns took the opportunity to hit back. The Dutchman was the first to do better than the reference time set by Sainz Jr in the morning with a time of 1'55''918. Now on fresh tyres, the Spanish driver responded as the checkered flag drew close, defiantly clocking first a 1'55''741 then a 1'55''410, to end the day in first place ahead of Robin Frijns. The Finn Joni Wiman (Koiranen Motorsport) took it down to the wire to grab third spot ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne (KTR).
On Monday, for the second day of testing, 37 drivers took to the track. Carlos Sainz Jr showed the quickest turn of pace again, lapping in 1'55''608 before Robin Frijns snatched the top spot from him in 1'55''344 shortly before midday. A few minutes later, Tech 1 Racings Paul-Loup Chatin got a fright when his car caught fire. The driver got clear of the vehicle unscathed.
In the afternoon, Carlos Sainz Jr was back in action taking advantage of old tires to grab first place back. A time of 1'55''184 put him ahead of Robin Frijns. At the end of the session, the Spaniard performed a race simulation, maintaining the best time ahead of Robin Frijns, Karl Oscar Liiv and Daniil Kvyat
Quote-Unquote: Carlos Sainz Junior: "We musnt forget that this is only free practice. Not to get overexcited here! The race is another matter. But Im very happy after these two days because this is where the season begins. Mechanically, everything has been perfect throughout. We were able to optimize each session. This morning we tried many things and this afternoon we did a race simulation that worked very well. Our next meeting is in Barcelona, which is a track I like very much, because you know that when a car is competitive there it will be for all races."
Robin Frijns: "We are still in the discovery phase. I love this track and I felt at ease on it straight away. That helped us make good progress with our test programme. Were not getting the best out of new tyres yet. The 2011 lineup is really very tough. It will be a great year!"
Karl Oscar Liiv: "I missed the first test at Paul Ricard because Im studying and I didnt want to get too far behind. So I am very satisfied with the outcome of these tests. We have worked very well with the team. This is my second season and I clearly want to win!"
