Formula Renault
EU 2.0: Series Estoril Fridy test summary
Boost for Bottas With the four-man battle for the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 between Valtteri Bottas (Motopark Academy), Roberto Merhi (Epsilon Euskadi), Andrea Caldarelli (SG Formula) and Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula) set to continue this ...
Published: Sep 27, 2008, 8:39 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Boost for Bottas
With the four-man battle for the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 between Valtteri Bottas (Motopark Academy), Roberto Merhi (Epsilon Euskadi), Andrea Caldarelli (SG Formula) and Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula) set to continue this weekend, Bottas gained a valuable psychological edge by clocking the day's fastest time. Ricciardo, meanwhile, made an early exit...
Group 2
The sun was still shining, and so was Valtteri Bottas... Tristan Vautier (SG Formula), Gabriel Dias (Fortec Motorsport) and Johan Jokinen (IQuick) were all impressive early on, the Danish driver taking the lead with a time of 1'37"361.
The weather conditions were ideal and quicker times followed as the end of the session approached. Michele Faccin (Jenzer Motorsport) briefly climbed to the top of the time sheets, but Valtteri Bottas was yet to have his say. The Finn was the first to drop below the 1'37 mark. Times of 1'36''530 then 1'36''507 put him head and shoulders above his rivals.
In warmer conditions, the afternoon session was a quieter affair. With five minutes to go, Tristan Vautier was leading. Albert Costa (Epsilon Euskadi) was the first man to better him, before history repeated itself as Valtteri Bottas claimed the lead. Bottas did not improve on his time from the morning, but still came out with the fastest time of the session, with Michele Faccin in second.
Group 1
In Group 1, Jean-Eric Vergne (SG Formula) was the first man to really hit his stride. The Frenchman took an early lead, before Alex Morgan (Fortec Motorsport) dislodged him midway through the session.
Daniel Ricciardo then strung together a series of rapid times. The Australian improved lap on lap. A time of 1'37''093 put him top of the pile, with Morgan second and Pal Varhaug (Jenzer Motorsport) in third. The action was then interrupted as Antonio Felix da Costa (Motopark Academy) crashed off.
The afternoon session was notable initially for Daniel Ricciardo's crash. Daniel lost control of his car on the second bend and hit the safety railings. He would take no further part in proceedings.
Roberto Merhi, who had had a quiet time of things so far in testing here, will be feeling more confident after clocking the fastest time of the afternoon, ahead of Pal Varhaug. The Spaniard's time was well short of that set by Valtteri Bottas, however. The title race is still very much on!
Valtteri Bottas: "We have had two really good days of testing. Our car is performing well on new tyres and old. I need to put in a similar performance tomorrow, but this was a good start to the weekend. It puts a bit of pressure on my rivals. But I mustn't think about them. I just have to stay focused on my goal."
Roberto Merhi: "I'm feeling a little better this afternoon, but my time was still well short of Bottas's! I got stuck in the pack this morning. But our setup is much better than yesterday."
-credit: wsbyrenault.com
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Singapore GP: Bridgestone Friday practice report
Next article Singapore GP: Practice 3 times
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Antonio Felix da Costa
Alpine explains decision to drop Antonio Felix da Costa, Fred Makowiecki from Fuji WEC line-up
WEC
WEC
Fuji
Alpine explains decision to drop Antonio Felix da Costa, Fred Makowiecki from Fuji WEC line-up
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Antonio Felix da Costa joins Alpine’s WEC squad after Porsche exit
WEC
WEC
Bahrain
Antonio Felix da Costa joins Alpine’s WEC squad after Porsche exit
More from
Jenzer Motorsport
American Max Esterson graduates to F3 with Jenzer
FIA F3
FIA F3
American Max Esterson graduates to F3 with Jenzer
Jenzer locks in FIA Formula 3 line-up
FIA F3
FIA F3
Jenzer locks in FIA Formula 3 line-up
French teenager secures FIA F3 Jenzer drive
FIA F3
FIA F3
French teenager secures FIA F3 Jenzer drive
Latest news
Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
27 min
Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 54 min
Alex Palou to drive Indy NXT machinery in Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
1 h
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
2 h
Into the unknown: What to expect from WEC's Barcelona debut
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe