17 October 2014
Egor Orudzhev leads the way in practice at Jerez
The final round of season 10 began this Friday at the Circuito de Jerez. In the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Egor Orudzhev (Tech 1 Racing) was quickest in the collective tests. With a lap time of 1:40.616 this morning, the Russian driver led from Steijn Schothorst (Manor MP Motorsport) and Jake Hughes (Strakka Racing). In the afternoon, Nyck de Vries (Koiranen GP), who has already clinched the title, posted the best time of the session but couldn’t lower the previous reference time set by Egor Orudzhev.
Bruno Bonifacio (Prema Powerteam) was the first driver to set a time on the Circuito de Jerez. Alexander Albon (KTR) then Jake Hughes (Strakka Racing) went quicker before the red flag was shown due to heavy fog.
The Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 competitors returned to the track for the final 25 minutes. Jake Hughes lowered the best time, but Egor Orudzhev went even faster six minutes from the end. His lap time of 1:40.616 went unchallenged after Bruno Bonifacio provoked a premature end to the session. The Russian led from Steijn Schothorst, Jake Hughes, Alexander Albon and George Russell (Tech 1 Racing).
In the afternoon, Dennis Olsen (Prema Powerteam) quickly went to the sharp end of the order before being dislodged by Egor Orudzhev. Bruno Bonifacio and Nyck de Vries copied the Russian. With 24 minutes to go in the session, James Allen (ARTA Engineering) brought out the red flag.
The final 10 minutes were animated. Bruno Bonifacio led the way, but Jack Aitken (Fortec Motorsports) and Nyck de Vries wet faster. The leader in the general classification improved with a lap clocked in 1:41.578 to end the session at the top of the time sheet ahead of Matt Parry (Fortec Motorsports), Jack Aitken, Bruno Bonifacio and George Russell.
Quotes
Egor Orudzhev: “We set the best time this morning, thanks to the red flag. Several drivers had not switched to new tyres, but it was still a fine performance. Without new rubber this afternoon, it went well but we have to master tyre degradation. We hope to continue like this in order to score a lot of points and get a first victory.”
Steijn Schothorst: “We had a good opening session, although obviously all the drivers could not put in a run on new tyres. This afternoon, we learned a lot on the track, when it was warmer and there was more rubber build up. We’ll have to work fast in qualifying, because we can only get one or two laps and tyres are gone!”
Nyck de Vries: “Even with the title sewn up, we are here to win! We still have the team title to win! We can be satisfied with our day. I slightly changed my approach in some of the corners compared to the ALPS weekend we ran here, with positive results. We were able to put in competitive long runs and we have a little more potential with new tyres.”
