Pierre Gasly (Tech 1 Racing) set the fastest time in Friday’s Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 collective testing sessions. Excelling on the sinuous Budapest track, the Frenchman outpaced Esteban Ocon (ART Junior Team), who went fastest in the morning, and championship leader Oliver Rowland (Manor MP Motorsport).
Returning from their summer break, 33 drivers got back down to business on a sunny morning in Budapest, with Jake Dennis (Fortec Motorsports), Oscar Tunjo (Josef Kaufmann Racing), Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon trading fastest laps in the first half of the day’s opening session.
Oliver Rowland made his presence felt 20 minutes in, becoming the first driver to dip under the 1:44 mark. The ART Junior Team men then got in on the act, as Andrea Pizzitola and Esteban Ocon took over at the top of the timesheets, the Frenchman remaining out front for the rest of the morning thanks to a lap of 1:43.241. Pierre Gasly, Ed Jones (Fortec Motorsports), Steijn Schothorst (Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Jake Dennis completed the session’s top five.
The afternoon proved to be every bit as competitive. Pierre Gasly and Luca Ghiotto (Prema Powerteam) took turns at the top in the opening minutes before Oliver Rowland stamped his authority by going fastest.
Nine minutes from the end the championship frontrunner was outdone by his closest rival, Pierre Gasly, whose lap of 1:42.285 was the day’s quickest, leaving him ahead of Esteban Ocon, Oliver Rowland, Ed Jones and Jake Dennis at the end of a session in which 20 drivers all finished within a second of each other.
What they said
Pierre Gasly: “We’ve got some good foundations to build on now. We can make a few improvements and get the car to perform even better. I’ve found my bearings here again and I’ve had a good day. The performance is there; I just need to avoid making mistakes. It’s up to me to keep this going.”
Oliver Rowland: “The sessions went well but we’ve still got some work to do on the balance of the car. If we can get it all together in one lap, qualifying will be perfect. It’s all going to come down to grip and traffic.”
Esteban Ocon: “It was a pretty productive session overall. We set up the car a little differently to the Red Bull Ring and it all felt pretty good, though we’ll need to have a look at how it handles with new tyres and how much rubber they leave on the track. If we’re going to come back and fight for the top positions, we need to find some speed. Andrea’s giving me the right kind of information for that to happen.”
