23 October 2013
No stopping Stockinger in Barcelona
Day two of Formula Renault 3.5 Series collective testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was dominated by two of the drivers to feature in the category in 2013, with Will Stevens (Strakka Racing) going fastest in the morning before Marlon Stockinger (Lotus) clocked the day’s best lap of 1:30.218 in the afternoon. FR 3.5 newcomers Matthieu Vaxiviere (Lotus) and Raffaele Marciello (Tech 1 Racing) made an instant impression by finishing in the top five, while Oliver Rowland (Fortec Motorsports) was among the ten fastest drivers in both sessions.
Five new drivers joined the testing ranks on Wednesday. Having spent the season with Pons Racing, Zoel Amberg switched to Arden Caterham, jumping into the seat that Antonio Felix da Costa vacated to drive for Carlin, while Andre Negrao was back behind the wheel at International Draco Racing. There were also two debutants in action: British driver Alexander Sims (Carlin), a race winner in GP3 Series this year, and South Korea’s Che Won Im (Pons Racing), who has been competing in European F3 Open.
Oliver Rowland (Fortec Motorsports) made the early running on a track that was damp to start with. The first driver to switch to slicks, Vittorio Ghirelli (AV Formula) briefly dictated terms as the times began to fall, with Will Stevens outpacing everyone in the sprint finish, the Briton ending the session out front from Sergey Sirotkin (ISR), Carlos Sainz (DAMS), Zoel Amberg (Arden Caterham) and Matthieu Vaxiviere.
Filipino racer Marlon Stockinger set a fierce pace right from the start to the afternoon session, posting the day’s fastest time of 1:30.218 after 50 minutes. Though his rivals closed the gap in the final hour, none of them could dislodge the Lotus man from the top of the timesheets, with Zoel Amberg and Antonio Felix da Costa rounding off the top three. Driving for Tech 1 Racing, Raffaele Marciello took fourth place ahead of Matias Laine (Strakka Racing).
What they said:
Marlon Stockinger: “It was a pleasure to test with the championship-winning team yesterday, even if we had a few problems to deal with. It’s been a perfect day today back with Lotus. The team gave me a fantastic car. Judging by the gap we had on the others and the way we improved every day, we should sign up for another season together.”
Oliver Rowland: “I felt at ease in the car straightaway. It demands an incredible amount of power from your arms and neck. I wasn’t expecting that at all. It’s physically demanding but I think I came out of it OK, even if Stockinger was a little bit too quick for us.”
Raffaele Marciello: “I’ve had two great days getting to grips with the category with two different teams. I love the car. It’s like a big F3 and it’s fun to drive too. The carbon brakes are amazing and so is the power of the engine. This category is one of the options open to me for 2014.”
Jann Mardenborough: “I was very quick on used tyres when the track was still damp, but the afternoon was tougher. I tried to attack but I made a few mistakes, and my first run with the new tyres was cut short by a red flag. It was a bit of a frustrating day overall, though it’s still been a good experience for me. I’ve had the chance to drive in two different environments, which is a good way of trying to get an idea of what lies ahead. The downforce on this car is amazing but the power of the brakes is just unbelievable.”
