18 October 2013
Pedala and Files battle it out
Massimiliano Pedala (Composit Motorsport) went quicker than anyone in Friday’s Eurocup Clio collective testing sessions in Barcelona. Edged out by Josh Files (Team Pyro) in the morning, the points leader turned the tables in the afternoon to outpace the British driver and Simone Di Luca (Rangoni Corse), while Nicolas Milan (Team LMV CL Brakes), the other man still in contention for the title, endured a frustrating day.
The sun was shining as the Eurocup Clio field ventured on to the track for Friday morning’s session, which began with Josh Files and Oscar Nogues (RMS Engineering) setting the pace before the red flag came out, with Antonio Martinez (SMC Junior Motorsport) the man in trouble.
On the restart Massimiliano Pedala dictated terms before being pipped at the end of the session by Josh Files. Posting a time of 2:06.345, the newly crowned Renault Clio Cup UK champion came out ahead of Massimilano Pedala, Oscar Nogues, Gonzalo Martin de Andres (SMC Junior Motorsport) and Pablo Martin (SMC Junior Motorsport).
The drivers had not even had the chance to put in a flying lap in session two before Luciano Gioia (Composit Motorsport) had the red flag out again. Massimiliano Pedala then took up position at the top of the timesheets only for proceedings to be interrupted again when the speeding field failed to observe the yellow flag after Steve Parish (Seminole Racing Team) ran off.
Massimiliano Pedala went even faster with ten minutes remaining, lapping in 2:06.131, with Oscar Nogues then bringing the red flag out for a third time. In a frantic last six minutes the Italian held on to top spot by just 0.0012 from Josh Files, Simone Di Luca, David Dickenson (Team Pyro) and Antonio Martinez.
What they said
Massimiliano Pedala: “They’re only practice sessions but I felt good right from the start of the day. I went even better in the afternoon but Files showed himself to be our biggest rival. If I can keep it going in qualifying, it should go well.”
Josh Files: “We tried a few different set-ups on our first few laps on the circuit, though as is usually the case not everything worked. We’ve still got some modifications to make and that should help me when it comes to the races. I’ve got to get acquainted with a new track again and I’ve got a whole stack of data to learn. My goal here is to win and make up for missing out on the points at Paul Ricard.”
Oscar Nogues: “I got a pretty bad shunt from someone this afternoon and I couldn’t try out the new tyres because my gearbox was jammed in fourth. I hope the problem will be sorted out tomorrow and I can go for pole. The title’s out of reach if you ask me. I’m just looking for wins and I’ll see where that takes me.”
