Pic in P2

Charles Pic came away from Portugal with another telling result. This time it was a P2 in Race 2, which is the one which affords the most points. Yet as the curtain came down on a sweltering weekend there were plenty of "what ifs" turning in Charles' mind. A podium in Saturday's race was within his grasp, and victory on the Sunday was not out of the question either.

With some promising lap times already under his belt during practice, Charles went on to be the fastest in his qualifying group. He did it in impeccable style by stringing together his three fastest sector times into one lap. He wasn't quite able to repeat the feat in the Superpole session but by clocking the 3rd fastest time he nevertheless established himself as one of the favourites.

A great start in Race 1 propelled him to 3rd coming out of the first turn, after having started the race in 6th place on the reverse grid. Sadly, a surprise was in store for him in a hairpin a little further on. "I was a bit too optimistic. My tyres were hot but my carbon brakes weren't. As a result of that I ploughed straight on."

By the time he managed to get back on the road, Charles found himself 21st. In the second lap he overtook Sergei Afanasiev, in the third he got past Duncan Tappy, in the fourth he tried to do the same with Pippa Mann, but the British girl was decided not to let him by if she could help it. At the end of the main straight Charles managed to inch three-quarters of his car past her but couldn't get by. He did what he could to avoid a collision by mounting the rumble strip but the incident resulted in bent suspension for him.

Charles would have deserved an Oscar for his performances off the grid in Estoril. The start he got off to in Sunday's race was a star performance to match the previous day's one. He flashed into the lead from 3rd place on the grid by taking an outside line while braking into the first turn. After eight laps he had opened up a nearly 3-second lead over Miguel Molina.

Then he pitted for the compulsory tyre change and came out ready to go on the attack again. But who should he fall on in the 13th lap? Why, Pippa Mann of course! The P1 Motorsport car driver managed to close him out for four laps. This time there was a lot at stake, unlike in the previous day's race. It was a matter of victory in the race and of Tech 1's standing in the teams championship, so another incident was obviously out of the question. In the meantime the coast was clear for Miguel Molina and he rejoined the race in front after his tyre change pitstop.

Charles had to make do with coming 2nd in a race in which he'd clocked the fastest lap. The young Tech 1 Racing driver was the fastest rookie right through the weekend apart from when he had to drop out of Race 1. He is also the best-placed rookie in the current championship standings. After Estoril he's now lying 5th, up from 7th. He can still improve on that in the closing meeting of the season, which will take place in Barcelona, next October 18-19.

Nationality: French, Born on February 15th, 1990

2004: Karting Junior ICA, French Championship, 3rd

2005: Karting Junior ICA, European Championship Western qualification race winner; 3rd in European Championship Final; Margutti Trophy winner; Italian Junior Championship runner-up

2006: French Formula Campus Renault Elf Championship, 3rd (2 race wins, 2 pole positions)

2007: Formula Renault 2.0, 3rd in Eurocup (1 race win, 5 podium finishes, 2 pole positions), 4th overall in French Championship and Rookie runner-up (4 overall podium finishes, 1 pole position)

2008: Formula Renault 3.5, Tech 1 Racing driver, FFSA French Circuit Team member, Monaco & Le Mans winner, provisional 5th (best rookie) after 15 out of 17 rounds.

- Romain Didier / future racing commm -