NEC: Series pre-season test summary

NEC teams round up first official tests for 2010

The start of the NEC season 2010 is a fact. Two official test sessions earlier this week in Hockenheim and Oschersleben have given the teams of the Northern European Cup the opportunity to test both 2010 and 2009 editions of Formula Renault 2.0. Drivers and cars are now ready for the fifth season of the stepping-stone for young driver talent in Northern Europe.

The first session was held on the 29th and 30th of March at the Hockenheimring in the south-western part of Germany. Because the famous track is part of the World Series by Renault calendar this year, the teams of the Formula Renault 2.0 EUROCUP joined the official NEC test. The track is new to most of the EUROCUP teams and that is how this test offered them a good opportunity to learn the curves, whilst at the same time getting more kilometres on their brand new Formula Renault.

Monday started off dry but soon the rain kicked in. MP Motorsport showed their experience with both new car and track by putting down the fastest times during the majority of the sessions on Monday. Tuesday offered much better and drier weather and gave way to an improvement of the times set on the day before. The best time for the NEC participants was for Jeroen Mul (1.39.07) for Van Amersfoort Racing.

On Tuesday evening, all of the Northern European Cup moved on to the eastern part of Germany for the second half of pre-season testing. Motorsport Arena Oschersleben was booked for Wednesday 31st of March and Thursday 1st of April. The conditions were much better than predicted, offering maximum chances to the teams. KTR made good improvement with car and driver (Mikkel Mac 1.27.090) and Tony Kowalewski was the fastest among the 2009 editions with 1.29.502.

The organisation of the series is delighted to welcome a large number of new teams to the 2010 season. It is remarkable that most teams bring or bring back new countries to the cup. Belgian teams KTR and Astromega joining the entire season this year, with a total of 3 new cars. On top, the organization is very pleased to have the first Polish team on the starting grid in Hockenheim, Kochanski Motorsport, with both 2010 and 2009 editions. Moreover, KEO Racing from Denmark has rejoined the series with Ludvig Ghidi for the full season.

Last but not least, Tony Kowalewski (TKP) as mentioned before and Frank Suntjens (Speed lover) are among the new teams welcomed to the series with their 2009 editions of the Formula Renault 2.0. A minimum of sixteen cars (2010 and 2009 versions of Formula Renault 2.0) is welcomed at the first of race of the season in Hockenheim on the 16-18 of April 2010.

-source: nec