Bruno Bonifacio (Prema Powerteam) set best time during day one of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 collective test at the Paul Ricard Circuit. He was quickest during the afternoon session with a lap time of 2’03’’628, beating the previous track record set by Pierre Gasly in 2013. The native of Brazil led from the member of the McLaren Young Driver Development Programme, Nyck de Vries (Koiranen GP), who had set best time in the morning.
After Spain last week, the contenders in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 turned up at the Paul Ricard Circuit for two days of collective testing. The 36 drivers and 13 teams got the chance to test the new tyres they will use this season for the first time.
Following a brief period of time to adapt to the new rubber, Alexander Albon (KTR) set the opening reference time. With 90-minutes to go in the session, the Thai native was knocked off the top spot by Nyck de Vries, who strung together a series of fastest laps and concluded the morning run with the best time of 2’04’’209. The Dutchman was a half-second quicker than Matt Parry (Fortec Motorsports), Alexander Albon, Egor Orudzhev (Tech 1 Racing) and Ignazio D’Agosto (Koiranen GP).
While Julio Moreno (Manor MP Motorsport) was the only driver on the track for the first 30-minutes in the afternoon, eight other drivers took their turn at the top of the time sheet in the hour that followed. Nyck de Vries led the way before Dennis Olsen (Prema Powerteam), Gustav Malja (Josef Kaufmann Racing) then Bruno Bonifacio moved ahead of him. 35-minutes before chequered flag was waved, the Brazilian posted a time of 2’03’’628, breaking the track record previously held by Pierre Gasly. He finished the session 0.004” ahead of Nyck de Vries. Ignazio D’Agosto, Alexander Albon and Gustav Malja (Josef Kaufmann Racing) completed the Top 5.
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Bruno Bonifacio: ”The objective was to gather as much data as possible with the new tyres and the team reached this goal. This is my third season with Prema, the second in Formula Renault 2.0. Consistency will be the key to doing well in the championship, while avoiding mistakes or stupidly losing points.”
Nyck de Vries: ”While the new tyre compound was different from what we expected, the differences are not major. Things went very well this morning and we are well placed in regards to the times at the end of the day, when everyone used the “new-new” tyres. Unfortunately, we missed out for 0.004”. To have Ignazio with us is a bonus. He was faster than me in the first sector; I was quicker in the third. I hope we can continue to push one another.”
Ignazio D’Agosto: ”We have made a lot of progress since Motorland. We concentrated on the new type of tyres and car balance. I set fifth best time this morning, then with some small changes; we were just a tenth of a second off the best time despite an error in sector two. However, I am very happy because the relationship with my new team and new engineer is coming along very nicely.”
Alexander Albon: ”The new tyre compound brings its fair share of differences and today was all about learning how they work. The way they function is particular, especially in the way they heat up. This made for a difficult day, but we seemed to be fast, just like we were at Motorland. It is good to be consistently competitive.”
