Formula Renault

EU 2000: Paul Ricard test 2006-04-20

Here come the kids! The 2006 Eurocup Renault Formula 2.0 Championship line-up features a total of thirty-three drivers, of whom XX are under 18 years old. A new young generation that will fight hard alongside their teams to stand out and begin ...

Edited: Apr 21, 2006, 1:22 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Here come the kids!

The 2006 Eurocup Renault Formula 2.0 Championship line-up features a total of thirty-three drivers, of whom XX are under 18 years old. A new young generation that will fight hard alongside their teams to stand out and begin their future ascent into to the world of F1, following the footsteps of World Series champion Robert Kubica or Heikki Kovalainen. Today, the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Teams had their final pre-season outing at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit.

Indeed, the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship is a major part of the so-called "Renault Motorsport Pyramid", with four of the World's five continents represented in the official entry list: America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania, and a total of 17 different countries!

The Formula Renault race cars stepped out on Tuesday onto the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit for the final outing before the racing season starts in Zolder (Belgium). The Teams will have just a few days to return to their home bases and make final preparations for Belgium, so it was very important to go through their checklists and head for Zolder having already done their homework.

Ate Mustonen (Koiranen Bros) was in command at the end of the first day, lapping in 1'33"554 using the Solution 2D version of this track (4,150m). We had to look down fifteen positions to complete the list of drivers who were within a second of the leader (Brendon Hartley, Team Motorpark in 1'34"565). The Provence circuit was bathed in sunshine throughout the day, with very mild temperatures, and the drivers showed good progress in improving their lap times in the afternoon. Rahel Frey (Jenzer Motorsport) put in a great performance to finish in the top three. Former Carlin Motorsport UK driver Martin Plowman, making his debut in the Eurocup with top outfit Prema Power Team, gained ground in the afternoon and moved up to seventh!

The Teams were also making the most out of their time at this modern circuit, since most of them are involved in their national championships. Carlo Van Dam (SG Formula) arrived on Tuesday night and yesterday he was the one to watch at the French venue, improving on the best timed lap set in the morning (Strous, 1'33"152) by 0.1 seconds, to dip below 1'32. Tom Dillman, his young Eurocup team-mate, was the second best driver today, followed by Baguette and Alguersuari. Very close gaps again between the drivers, with Plowman wrapping up the top five!

-renault-

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

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article NASCAR Day: Only one month away

Next article Forsythe Racing names Lee Bentham driver coach

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

F1 Mexico GP: Follow FP1 with live timing

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

7 min

F1 Mexico GP: Follow FP1 with live timing

Sergio Perez to skip F1 Mexico GP fan forum due to illness

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

1 h

Sergio Perez to skip F1 Mexico GP fan forum due to illness

Lewis Hamilton on why he is “built differently” to stay in F1 for the “foreseeable future”

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

1 h

Lewis Hamilton on why he is “built differently” to stay in F1 for the “foreseeable future”

"Slippery as hell" – Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar explain the "extreme" challenge of Mexico

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

2 h

"Slippery as hell" – Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar explain the "extreme" challenge of Mexico

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