Tiago Monteiro completed a very successful World Series by Nissan collective test in Valencia, where the 4th meeting of the Series will take place this weekend.

Monteiro. “I’m glad to be here. In Portugal everything is about football these days! Today we’ve tested a lot of thinks, we took some risks but the car improved quite a lot. Tomorrow will try some more changes.”

The wind was quite strong during the afternoon, and the air temperature was never below the 30º C, but the drivers managed to improve their best morning laps, even if the session was stopped three times, and the incident with Kostka ruined any chance of improvement for the last 5 minutes.

Ravier (Epsilon Euskadi) was second fastest and finished the morning session in top position: “We have been very concentrated in the aerodynamics and I think the car is quite competitive now.”

Ander Vilariño was very impressive in the morning with new tyres, but in the afternoon he exited in one of the corners and his car had to go for repair. Still, he must be considered as a possible winner for the weekend, and he still holds the fastest lap in Valencia, 1.22.947 (173.8 km/h).

Didier Andre put in  an impressive third in the morning session. It was  a real boost for the KTR team, which has lost Jouanny due to a lack of sponsorship.

Kartikheyan was third quickest at the end of the day but he reported to have a problem with the car in the second sector: “I must do something wrong in that sector, but tomorrow everything will be okay.”

The World Series leader, Heikki Kovalainen, was in 4th position, in front of Bernoldi -  followed by Adrián Vallés, one of the two local drivers in Valencia.

Bernoldi could not improve his time due to a late red flag, but he is confident for the racing weekend: “Since my last test in Valencia, some weeks ago, we had improved the car quite a lot, and we still have a full day of work tomorrow”.

As reported, Vilariño’s car caused the first red flag. The second one was due to an incident with Pla, when the Frenchman was on top the times sheet.  Tomas Kostka was causing the third and the last of the red flags...

Félix Porteiro was unable to take part in the second session due to an engine failure.

Simon Abadie for the World Series Light

Simon Abadie was the strongest driver amongst the 2 litre category. The Former F3 driver set a time of 1.27.309. The second session was the quickest one and profited of smooth temperatures and a better grip, allowing very little time difference between Pellegrino, the second fastest, and the Spaniard Celso Míguez.

Giovanni Tedeschi finished in a remarkable 4th place. The Italian is also testing the World Series by Nissan car with Vergani and we could see the improvement in this 16 year old driver.

 World Series by Nissan

Best Timed Laps (All Sessions)

Tiago Monteiro             (Carlin Motorsport)         1.24.686Jean Christophe Ravier (Epsilon Euskadi)           1.24.752Narain Kartikheyan       (RC Motorsport)             1.25.080Heikki Kovalainen         (Pons Racing)                1.25.093Enrique Bernoldi           (GD Racing)                   1.25.269Adrian Valles                (Pons Racing)                 1.25.285Olivier Pla                     (Carlin Motorsport)       1.25.591Juan Cruz Alvarez         (Gabord Reyco)              1.25.716Tristan Gommendy        (Saulnier Racing)            1.25.782Ander Vilariño               (Epsilon Euskadi)          1.25.878Didier Andre                 (KTR)                             1.25.921Roldan Rodriguez          (Porefesa Competición) 1.26.390Tomas Kostka              (RC Motorsport)              1.26.677Pablo Donoso               (GD Racing)                    1.27.465

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