Martinez means businez

Collective testing continued at the Hungaroring today. The Formula Renault 3.5 Series drivers spent most of the session honing their setups. Only in the closing minutes did the final standings take shape. In the end, Marcos Martinez (Pons Racing) clocked the best time, ahead of Giedo Van der Garde (P1 Motorsport) and Robert Wickens (Carlin Motorsport).

Two 45-minute sessions were on the programme today to help the teams put the finishing touches to their cars before qualifying and race 1 tomorrow (Saturday).

Mikhail Aleshin (Carlin Motorsport) was the quickest off the mark this morning. He led for the first part of the session, ahead of Miguel Molina (Prema Powerteam) and Charles Pic (Tech 1 Racing). With a lap timed at 1'33''124, still some way short of yesterday's fastest time, Molina then went top of the time sheet. Bertrand Baguette (International Draco Racing) also climbed into the top three.

The drivers stepped up the pace at the end of the session. First Molina dislodged Aleshin from first place, then, to the surprise of many, Alexandre Marsoin (Epsilon Euskadi) snatched the lead. Marsoin (1'33''102) could not improve on the best time from yesterday, but held onto the lead for the remainder of the session. Miguel Molina was second, while Julien Jousse (Tech 1 Racing), who had had a relatively quiet time of things until now, took third place.

When action resumed this afternoon, in warm conditions, we had to wait until 15 minutes in to see some respectable times come up on the screens, Fairuz Fauzy (Fortec Motorsport) took the lead, with Miguel Molina in second. But the Spaniard, who had been among the leaders from the very start of the Hungaroring meeting, crashed off and the red flags were brought out.

As is customary, the new tyres were brought out for the end of the session. First Charles Pic, then Giedo Van der Garde, unseated Fauzy from top spot. Robert Wickens hit back immediately, but in the end it was Marcos Martinez (Pons Racing) who put in the best performance of the day with a lap timed at 1'32''992.

Marcos Martinez: «We had quite a lot of problems yesterday, particularly with the gearbox. We hadn't quite found the right balance for our car. With the uneven surface here, that's crucial. Today we tried a new setup, and it's worked a lot better! All this makes me feel confident for qualifying tomorrow."

Giedo Van der Garde: "We worked with old tyres for most of the time. When I put my fresh tyres on at the end of the session, I discovered two or three areas for improvement on the car. We're into the swing of things and the track will be even quicker tomorrow."

Miguel Molina: "I pushed a little too hard in this session, and I ended up in the gravel trap as a result. It was nothing serious. We have been up among the leaders in every session. It's important for us to be up there again tomorrow in qualifying, but we know we've got a good car. I have to win this weekend!"

- Blanca de Foronda-