Formula Renault

EU 2.0: Series Barcelona qualifying report

A good result for Ricciardo Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula) made the most of the difficult conditions by achieving a good result and going for the remaining two pole positions of the season. The extra point for pole position took him to the top ...

Published: Oct 19, 2008, 11:49 AM

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A good result for Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula) made the most of the difficult conditions by achieving a good result and going for the remaining two pole positions of the season. The extra point for pole position took him to the top of the overall standings. The Australian may well be able to take advantage of the good performance put in by the all of the SG Formula drivers to claim the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0. title.

Group A

The track was soaked by a shower just a few minutes before the green flag was waved. The drivers went onto the track with slick tyres, before opting for wet tyres. Marcelo Conchado (Amiter Galuppo) and Patrick Reiterer (Prema Powerteam) attempted to complete several laps using slick tyres.

Tobias Hegewald (Motopark Academy) and Valtteri Bottas (Motopark Academy) took the top two times just before the red flag was brought out when Juan Jacobo (Hitech Junior Team) crashed off the track. The session eventually got back underway with about three minutes remaining. The drivers had just one chance to qualify for the SuperPole. The two Motopark Academy drivers retained their position as top-placed drivers. Roberto Merhi (Epsilon Euskadi) slipped into third place in front of Michele Faccin (Jenzer Motorsport) and Pablo Montilla (Epsilon Euskadi).

Group B

The downpour had set in. There was no other alternative but for the drivers to take to the track in wet tyres. Albert Costa made a costly error at the start of the session. He therefore won't qualify for the SuperPole.

Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula) set the best time ahead of his team-mates Andrea Caldarelli (SG Formula) and Anton Nebilitsky (SG Formula). Daniel Zampieri (BVM Minardi Team) stole the top spot from Ricciardo. The Australian, who was full of confidence didn't waste any time in hitting back. He set the best time ahead of Zampieri and Caldarelli.

SuperPole

The SG Formula drivers set the pace for this year's final session of the Super Pole, which was held on a wet track. Andrea Caldarelli took the initial lead. With a lap time of 1'59''237, Daniel Ricciardo took the provisional pole position ahead of Andrea Caldarelli, Jean-Eric Vergne and Anton Nebilitskyi.

Ricciardo kept up his momentum in order to claim pole position in all of the start grids, which he managed to achieve the minute it started rain harder. The SG Formula team achieved a good result by dominating the first two rows of each of the start grids.

Apart from Andrea Caldarelli, the two other contenders lost out in a big way during their qualifying sessions. Valtteri Bottas will start off in eleventh place on Saturday afternoon and in sixth place on Sunday. It's even worse for Roberto Merhi, who in eighteenth and nineteenth place chose to race on a drying track!

According to Daniel Ricciardo, "It's started well. Yesterday I knew that I would be driving a single-seater to go and take the pole position on a dry track! However, my car performed just as well on this wet track. We decided to get in a good time quickly, just in case the rain got worse. This paid off because by the end of the session it was no longer possible to drive. I have regained the lead in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 thanks to the point gained from winning the top spot. The SG team did a great job. My team-mates are behind me. It's up to all of us to be smart in these two races."

-credit: wsbyrenault.com

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