EU 2.0: Series Spa Friday report

Arthur Pic and Daniel Mancinelli neck and neck

Arthur Pic (Tech 1 Racing) and Daniel Mancinelli (One Racing) made full use of their knowledge of the circuit at Spa-Francorchamps to gain the psychological edge during collective testing. Both of them need to bounce back after disappointing results in the first round at Motorland Aragon. They start the second weekend of racing in the best of shape.

This second round, on the tricky Spa-Francorchamps circuit, marks the return of the Krenek Motorsport team to Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, with drivers Adam Kout, winner of a race in this championship last year, and Jakub Knoll.

When the first session got underway, Kevin Korjus (Koiranen Bross Motorsport), current leader of Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, assumed his role at the head of the pack. The Estonian rapidly lost his top spot to Daniel De Jong (MP Motorsport) and Luciano Bacheta (Interwetten.com). The Briton, with support from his guest, Nicholas Hamilton – Lewis' brother- used his knowledge of the track to improve his times, lap after lap. However, he had to contend with Daniel Mancinelli. The Italian, who has also raced on this circuit, proceeded to snatch first position from him, with a lap time of 2'22''737.

However, Luciano Bacheta came back for his assault on the lap times. The Interwetten.com driver put in a series of fast laps and got himself into a solid first with a time of 2'21''195. The drivers pulled out all the stops in the final minutes of the morning session. Arthur Pic (Tech 1 Racing) recorded the fastest time of 2'20''943. He led the way, ahead of Luciano Bacheta, Bart Hylkema (Koiranen Bross Motorsport), Andre Negrao (Cram Competition) and Genis Olive (Epsilon Euskadi), up to the point where the session was interrupted when Adam Kout left the track in the Eau Rouge/Raidillon combination. There was certainly no let-up for any of the 23 New Formula Renault 2.0's this morning.

Throughout the second session Daniel Mancinelli tried all out to improve on Arthur Pic's morning times. The Italian took the lead, but Giovanni Venturini (Epsilon Euskadi) and Arthur Pic were both determined to keep him off the top spot, taking turns in first place. Nevertheless, Mancinelli was pushing and getting quicker with every lap. He was the first to improve on Arthur Pic's leaderboard time, with a lap of 2'20''776. Arthur Pic was still on the track and, by 1/1000th of a second, took the lead back with a time of 2'20''775. But things started to change when the final sets of new tyres were fitted. Kevin Korjus recorded a provisional fastest time. But, in his final attempt, Arthur Pic pulled off the best time of 2'19''239. He finished the two collective testing sessions ahead of Daniel Mancinelli and Bart Hylkema.

Quote, unquote:

Arthur Pic: "I just love this circuit and I feel very much at home here. It's a real advantage to know the track, as it's not the easiest to learn. It's the longest of the championship, and there are many places where it's possible to lose a lot of time, especially on the back of the circuit. The car is going well and we've improved its behaviour on fresh tyres. I need to score lots of points in both races, to put myself back in the running for the championship. I mustn't take too many risks…"

Daniel Mancinelli: "We had a few problems in the opening session. I had only four fast laps. By comparison everything went very smoothly this afternoon. It's a circuit I love, so I'm optimistic. The New Formula Renault 2.0 is a lovely car, with lots of grip, so you can take Raidillon flat out with no qualms. We had no success at Motorland, so I need to get everything back ship-shape this weekend."

-source: wsr