Nurburgring: Series Thursday test notes

Prema Powerteam in the swing

The Prema Powerteam drivers stood out from the crowd during this first day of collective testing. Miguel Molina, was the fastest in the morning, Alvaro Barba leading in the afternoon, the two men setting the rhythm. With sixteen drivers within a second of each other, the sixth meeting of the season is proving very close.

For the first session of the collective testing, two newcomers to Formula Renault 3.5 were getting to grips with the car. Siso Cunill (KTR) climbed on board the Belgian team's number 16 car. The young Spaniard started the season in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and is now trying his hand in the flagship category of World Series by Renault.

At RC Motorsport, the 2007 Italian Formula 3 Champion, Paolo Maria Nocera, took the place of Duncan Tappy. "Today's the first time that I've driven the car.>> explained the Italian driver. "It felt really good, the car is very well balanced and you quickly gain confidence. I progressed steadily. I'm here to learn, I have a lot of things to figure out this weekend, but I'm hoping that little by little I can move nearer the leaders."

During the morning, the drivers first set about finding their bearings in order to get back in the groove after a few weeks of holidays. The leader of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, Giedo Van der Garde (P1 Motorsport) was the first to set a fastest lap.

However, the order changed constantly, and nearly everyone decided to stay out on track for longer, despite the session being interrupted five times. One after another, Alexandre Marsoin (Epsilon Euskadi), Giedo Van der Garde (P1 Motorsport), Mario Romancini (Epsilon Euskadi), Siso Cunill and Pippa Mann (P1 Motorsport) caused the red flag to be brought out. The P1 Motorsport team still went on to change Van der Garde's engine. An operation they had been planning as his engine was at the end of its life.

Lap after lap, Giedo Van der Garde, Marco Bonanomi (Red Devil Team Comtec), Miguel Molina (Prema Powerteam) and Fabio Carbone (Ultimate Signature) took it in turns to lead. In the end, Molina set the fastest lap of the morning with a time of 1'45''473, ahead of Mikhail Aleshin (Carlin Motorsport) and Fabio Carbone. <> announced the Spanish driver at the end of the first day of testing. <>

During the second session, it was the turn of Alvaro Barba to show off his talent, setting the day's best time of 1'45''259, just ahead of Bertrand Baguette. The Belgian looked very happy to get back to business after the summer holidays. <>

On Friday, two 45-minute sessions are on the programme, while qualifying and the first race take place on Saturday.

-credit: wsbyrenault.com