18 October 2013
Leaders in the groove in Barcelona
Oliver Rowland (Manor MP Motorsport) found some impressive pace to dominate today’s Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 collective testing session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The British driver topped the morning timesheets ahead of Fortec Motorsports duo Ed Jones and Jake Dennis before eclipsing his championship rivals Pierre Gasly (Tech 1 Racing) and Esteban Ocon (ART Junior Team) in the afternoon.
Under partially cloudy skies, Esteban Ocon set the pace just minutes into the morning session only for Oliver Rowland to respond at the halfway stage, the Briton then clocking an even faster lap before an incident involving Alejandro Abogado (Interwetten.com Racing) brought the red flag out.
Nine minutes remained when the drivers returned to the track, and though the Tech 1 Racing and Fortec Motorsports drivers all went faster, Oliver Rowland retorted a flying last lap of 1:44.204 to take the morning’s honours ahead of Ed Jones (Fortec Motorsports), Jake Dennis (Fortec Motorsports), Pierre Gasly and Nyck de Vries (Koiranen GP).
The sun was shining bright for the afternoon session, the initial stages of which were keenly contested, with Esteban Ocon posting the benchmark time and remaining on top until Oliver Rowland dislodged him with nine minutes remaining.
Jack Aitken (Manor MP Motorsport) then triggered another red flag, bringing proceedings to an early halt as Oliver Rowland ended the day out front from championship leader Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, with Ed Jones and Jake Dennis rounding off the top five.
What they said
Oliver Rowland: “It was a perfect Friday for me. I didn’t put in the greatest lap but the car was brilliant and though there are still some things to work on, the foundations are pretty incredible. It’s a circuit I’ve done well at, and I’m sure Pierre’s a little bit worried ahead of the qualifying session. I can’t wait for it to start.”
Pierre Gasly: “It’s been a constructive day. The track was dirty in the first session and we had to adapt and try and find some rhythm. We tried out some very worn tyres and then bolted on some new ones. Unfortunately, I got held up in the last sector. If I put it all together on one whole lap, I can still shave some time off, and there’s no reason to be worried about tomorrow.”
Ed Jones: “It’s good to be up at the top but this is only testing. I only managed one fast lap with the worn and new tyres. It was very warm this afternoon and there was a lot of wear on them, which is going to be a big factor in qualifying and during the race. I need to focus on giving it my best shot.”
Collective test 1 classification
