Summer break over for Van der Garde!

After letting the Prema Powerteam drivers steal the show yesterday, Giedo Van der Garde (P1 Motorsport) made sure things returned to normal today. Fastest in both of today's sessions, he lived up to his status of leader and looks like he's raring to go this weekend as racing resumes after the summer break.

The weather was very different from Thursday, meaning the track was declared wet as the Formula Renault 3.5 cars made their way onto the track for the day's first 45-minute session. The vast majority of the drivers opted to start with slicks since the racing line appeared, on the whole, to be dry.

Giedo Van der Garde (P1 Motorsport) and Fabio Carbone (Ultimate Signature) set the pace at the start of the session. Van der Garde then grabbed the top time before Marco Barba (International Draco Racing) and Mikhail Aleshin (Carlin Motorsport) went quicker still.

Off the pace on Thursday, Julien Jousse (Tech 1 Racing) showed off some good form to take the best time. "Yesterday morning, the track was very dirty so I didn't complete many laps. I only had used tyres", explained the Tech 1 Racing driver. "Then I had a problem with the starter and something wasn't quite right in the gearbox. The first day wasn't great. Today, things went better. We changed the setup, but we can still find a still a few tenths. It's a very particular track, with a lot of different types of corner. There are no extremely difficult sections, just lots of tricky little bits which can catch you out and quickly lose you time."

As the session drew to a close, once again Giedo Van der Garde lived up to his status of leader and went on the attack. He improved his best time on consecutive laps and ended the session with a lap of 1'45''040, the fastest of the weekend so far.

In the afternoon, Van der Garde set the pace again. Just before the session's halfway point, Alvaro Barba (Prema Powerteam) took the lead but was still way short of the time set by the Dutch driver this morning.

Salvador Duran (Interwetten.com Racing) kicked off the final series of fast times. He was quickly overtaken, however, by Bertrand Baguette (International Draco Racing) and then by Giedo Van der Garde, who once again had the final word.

"We had a rather unusual day yesterday: we changed the engine and had a few problems which we weren't able to resolve until late last night", explained Giedo Van der Garde. "Today, the car drove very well. I set my fastest time this morning on new tyres. This afternoon, we completed some laps with a lot of fuel in the car to prepare for the race. I then put on a set of new tyres, but I think the track was a bit slower. I feel good, the car is running well and we're much more on the pace than we were in Budapest. My goal for this weekend? I want to win races but it's not really up to me to take risks. Sometimes, you have to be content to just take the points!"

Esteban Guerrieri (Ultimate Signature), second-fastest this afternoon, also seemed to be pleased with his performance. "We have put in a lot of work to obtain a perfectly balanced car, although we have yet to find the right solution. But I'm confident about tomorrow all the same. There's still some work to do, but we should be able to adjust the car to my driving style."

Pos Driver Team Time S1 Lap S1 Time S2 Lap S2 Time S3 Lap S3 Time S4 Lap S4 Time Gap First Gap Previous

1 Giedo Van Der GARDE P1 MOTORSPORT 1:47.058 7 0 1:45.040 14 1:45.321 9 1:45.040

2 Alvaro BARBA PREMA POWERTEAM 1:46.917 31 1:45.259 26 1:46.454 11 1:46.064 9 1:45.259 +0.219 +0.219

3 Bertrand BAGUETTE INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 1:47.191 25 1:45.381 23 1:46.003 15 1:45.855 8 1:45.381 +0.341 +0.122

4 James WALKER FORTEC MOTORSPORT 1:47.267 29 1:45.447 26 1:47.256 13 1:46.418 15 1:45.447 +0.407 +0.066

5 Marco BONANOMI RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 1:46.553 26 1:45.466 27 1:46.215 15 1:46.006 9 1:45.466 +0.426 +0.019

6 Miguel MOLINA PREMA POWERTEAM 1:45.473 26 1:45.878 11 1:45.938 10 1:45.936 12 1:45.473 +0.433 +0.007

7 Fairuz FAUZY FORTEC MOTORSPORT 1:48.038 17 1:45.496 27 1:47.528 10 1:47.269 8 1:45.496 +0.456 +0.023

8 Charles PIC TECH 1 RACING 1:47.824 17 1:45.553 21 1:47.260 14 1:46.424 15 1:45.553 +0.513 +0.057

9 Marco BARBA INTERNATIONAL DRACO RACING 1:52.576 9 1:45.593 22 1:46.397 8 1:46.524 15 1:45.593 +0.553 +0.040

10 Mikhail ALESHIN CARLIN MOTORSPORT 1:45.750 32 1:45.611 27 1:46.200 4 1:45.891 8 1:45.611 +0.571 +0.018

11 Esteban GUERRIERI ULTIMATE-SIGNATURE 1:46.757 22 1:45.744 15 1:46.813 15 1:45.712 8 1:45.712 +0.672 +0.101

12 Julien JOUSSE TECH 1 RACING 1:47.605 18 1:48.076 4 1:45.753 9 1:46.119 13 1:45.753 +0.713 +0.041

13 Fabio CARBONE ULTIMATE-SIGNATURE 1:46.066 26 1:45.814 19 1:46.799 12 1:46.089 13 1:45.814 +0.774 +0.061

14 Salvador DURAN INTERWETTEN.COM RACING 1:47.094 29 1:46.555 9 1:56.152 4 1:45.889 8 1:45.889 +0.849 +0.075

15 Pasquale DiSABATINO RED DEVIL TEAM COMTEC 1:46.693 33 1:45.927 17 1:46.957 17 1:47.662 9 1:45.927 +0.887 +0.038

16 Pippa MANN P1 MOTORSPORT 1:48.268 27 1:46.007 38 1:46.973 16 1:46.461 10 1:46.007 +0.967 +0.080

17 Aleix ALCARAZ PONS RACING 1:47.629 27 1:46.099 17 1:46.106 11 1:46.964 9 1:46.099 +1.059 +0.092

18 Paolo Maria NOCERA RC MOTORSPORT 1:47.214 22 1:46.658 6 1:46.118 12 1:48.954 11 1:46.118 +1.078 +0.019

19 Marcos MARTINEZ PONS RACING 1:47.948 26 1:46.419 13 1:47.346 14 1:46.201 6 1:46.201 +1.161 +0.083

20 Claudio CANTELLI RC MOTORSPORT 1:47.115 29 1:46.211 26 1:46.856 14 1:46.992 14 1:46.211 +1.171 +0.010

21 Pablo SANCHEZ INTERWETTEN.COM RACING 1:47.332 41 1:46.213 17 1:47.815 12 1:46.278 8 1:46.213 +1.173 +0.002

22 Robert WICKENS CARLIN MOTORSPORT 1:47.983 22 1:46.657 13 1:46.581 20 1:46.252 13 1:46.252 +1.212 +0.039

23 Mario ROMANCINI EPSILON-EUSKADI 1:47.801 28 1:46.969 13 1:46.373 15 1:46.697 9 1:46.373 +1.333 +0.121

24 Alexandre MARSOIN EPSILON-EUSKADI 1:49.046 19 1:46.378 28 1:47.642 19 1:46.695 13 1:46.378 +1.338 +0.005

25 Siso CUNILL KTR 1:48.500 37 1:48.412 11 1:47.249 16 1:48.430 5 1:47.249 +2.209 +0.871  

- Blanca de Foronda-