The activity has re-started after the summer break and seven teams in the World Series by Nissan will be visiting Estoril today for a private test. It is the first visit of the Dallara Nissan Sn01 cars to the Estoril track. A land with a local hero: Tiago Monteiro.
The Series is entering the second part of the season and so far, the the strongest itle contenders are Enrique Bernoldi (GD Racing), who was the first leader - but who lost the leadership in Belgium to Tiago Monteiro (Carlin Motorsport) and Heikki Kovalainen (Pons Racing) who took the lead in Valencia and recently put in an impressive drive taking a double win in Germany.
Estoril (4,182 m) will be the scene of a double race and local hero Tiago Monteiro is expected to step on the podium - Monteiro is on a high after completing a successful test in Vallelunga last week with the Minardi Cosworth F1 team - he has been invited to a further test in Misano, at the end of November.
Tiago is third in the provisional standings, behind Brazilian driver Enrique Bernoldi (GD Racing) who has been announced as the new test driver for the BAR Honda Team - which reopens Bernoldi’s hope for a quick return to F1.
With one victory and two seconds French driver JC Ravier is 4th in the standings. Fellow French national Tristan Gommendy (Saulnier Racing) had a sweet and sour race weekend in Germany but is confident of progressing during the remaining season.
A total of 7 Teams (Pons Racing, Carlin Motorsport, GD Racing, RC Motorsport, KTR, Gabord Reyco, Vergani Formula) will be participating in today's test. KTR will test with Toyota Atlantic driver Alex García, If the driver adapts well to the car the Belgian squad may line-up two cars in Estoril.
Provisional Driver’s Standings
1. H. Kovalainen – Pons Racing(126); 2. E. Bernoldi- GD Racing (90); 3. T.Monteiro, - Carlin Motorsport (78); 4. JC Ravier- Epsilon Euskadi (69); 5. T.Gommendy – Saulnier Racing (61); 6. N.Kartikheyan – RC Motorsport (53); 7. J.Alvarez - Gabord Reyco (40); 8. F.Porteiro – Porfesa Competición (35); 9. 0. Pla - Carlin Motorsport (29); 10. B. Jouanny – KTR (25)….13. A. Vallés – Pons Racing (14)…17. R.Rodriguez – Porfesa (2)…
Celso Míguez goes for the lead the World Series Light
The Dallara AER 250 Hp car will race for the first time in Estoril. With only three meetings left, the fight for the Title is quite open. Pavlovic, in the lead, and Pellegrino, third in the provisional standings, even share the same garage in Vergani Formula. The Spaniard Celso Míguez climbed as high as second in Germany after taking a strong win in the first race and visiting the podium in the second one.
Bastien Briere will not continue in the Epsilon by Graff Team as hiss contract finished after Germany. A driver’s announcement is expected next week.
Provisional Driver’s Standings
1. M.Pavlovic- Vergani Formula (112); 2. C. Miguez – Meycom Motorsport (84); 3. M.Pellegrino – Vergani Formula (81); 4. S.Abadie – Epsilon (76); 5. B.Briere- Epsilon (74); 6. M. Lahaye – Saulnier Racing (57); 7. H. Primat- Saulnier Racing (49); 8. G.Tedeschi- Vergani Formula (29); 9. J.Del Pino- RC Motorsport (26); 10. M.Cencetti- RC Motorsport (10).
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