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| March 08, 2011 |
| Renault 3.5: Ricciardo Ends Day One of Spanish Testing P1 |
 | Daniel Ricciardo led the way in the opening day of pre-season testing at the Motorland Aragon circuit
(Photo: Renault) |
With Pons Racing’s Oliver Webb setting the pace in the morning, and ISR’s Daniel Ricciardo in the afternoon, the stage looks set for the forthcoming season of Formula Renault 3.5 Series, with rookies and veterans alike clearly ready for action. On his first day with ISR, Ricciardo has already landed a blow for the team, having set the fastest time in the opening day of series pre-season testing on Tuesday (March 8) at Motorland Aragon in Spain.
At Motorland Aragon, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series competitors took their first official steps of the forthcoming season. With new drivers, new colours, and two new teams, BVM Target and Gravity - Charouz Racing, everyone is waiting impatiently to see who will take the early lead.
Under a heavy sky, Gravity - Charouz Racing’s Brendon Hartley set the first flying lap. He was soon followed by Tech 1 Racing’s Arthur Pic, who made an impression with a time of 1:44.919; however, at this stage nobody was really looking for flatout speed.
The experienced drivers soon had the upper hand, as P1 Motorsport’s Daniil Move, along with Ricciardo, KMP Racing’s Nelson Panciatici, and Hartley, as they each took turns at the top of the timesheet as the first spots of rain made a brief appearance at the end of the first two hours. Carlin’s Jean-Eric Vergne took the ascendant as the last half hour loomed, lapping in 1:44.022.
With the cars running on fresh rubber, the leaderboard changed constantly in the closing minutes of the morning session. In the end, Webb, who came third in the 2010 British F3 International Series, finished on top. With a 1:43.467 lap, the Brit from the Pons Racing team led Hartley, International Draco Racing's Stéphane Richelmi, Carlin's Robert Wickens and BVM Target's Davide Rigon. American Alexander Rossi (Fortec Motorsport) and Jake Rosenzweig (Mofaz Racing) ended the opening run 17 and 18th overall.
It was Pic’s turn to set the pace at the start of the afternoon. But it was nevertheless Ricciardo who was the first to improve on Webb’s best effort from the morning session, with a time of 1:43.128. Just minutes later, thanks to a time of 1:42.948, the Red Bull Racing F1 team’s third man was leading the field. Even if nobody could match his turn of speed, the battle for second was electric. Rigon finally ended the session second, followed by the Canadian Wickens. Rossi made it two North Americans among the top-five with the fifth best time, while Rosenzweig was classified 18th at the flag. Impressively, the first 14 drivers all finished the day within one second of each other!
“Considering it’s my first day with the ISR team, I'm very happy with the result,” stated Ricciardo. “This morning we fine-tuned my driving position and my set-up inside in the car. We put new tyres on quite early on this afternoon, which allowed me to stay out there in top spot for the almost the entire session, which was great. We need to continue getting used to each other at ISR tomorrow, and I think that we should be able to go faster still.”
“I’m really pleased to have set the fastest lap for the first session of the season,” added Webb. “It's a real motivator for the year ahead. This afternoon, we didn’t put on new tyres; we tried to work on the car’s set-up. I still have some things to work out. We’re going to try to up the ante tomorrow.”
The Formula Renault 3.5 Championship drivers return to action on Wednesday (March 9), with day two of official testing at the Motorland Aragon road course in Spain. |
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