New 2.0 Motorland Aragon test summary

New Formula Renault 2.0 charms drivers

For three days, a dozen drivers invited by Renault Sport Technologies, chosen following consultation with the national promoters and teams, were given the chance to get behind the wheel of New Formula Renault 2.0 at the Motorland Aragon circuit. What began as a simple testing session ended as a love story...

Even before the action begins a few weeks from now, New Formula Renault 2.0 has already claimed its first victory, that of winning over the drivers. Driving chassis No.1, the first chassis to leave the Alpine workshops at Dieppe, twelve drivers invited by Renault Sport Technologies took to the track to gauge the potential of this single-seater. Each driver was given a fresh set of tyres before being let loose on the Motorland Aragon circuit for 100 kilometers.

On Monday morning, Filipe Albuquerque, the driver chosen by Renault Sport Technologies for the development of New Formula Renault 2.0, was the first to take to the track. He was followed by Mathieu Arzeno as test driver for a motor racing magazine, who subsequently handed over the reins to Aleix Alcaraz, the first of the drivers invited to experience New Formula Renault 2.0. In wet conditions, the experienced Spanish driver immediately noticed the clear improvement in handling over the previous version of Formula Renault 2.0. Alain Sicart then took his turn in the hot-seat before Maxime Piallat brought this session to a close.

Weather conditions had improved for day 2. After a first run on wet tyres, Luciano Bacheta was able to change to slicks. He was followed in turn by Sandro Ludovic, before Gregoire Demoustier was allowed to get to grips New Formula Renault 2.0. The day ended with drivers Vincent Beltoise and Thibault Thaquet, sporting Autosport Academy colours, each taking to the tarmac.

Finally Yann Zimmer, the 2009 runner-up in the Formul'Academy Euro Series 2009, Bart Hykelma and Jakub Klasterka took their turn at the wheel on Wednesday, concluding more than 1,200 kilometers of driving for New Formula Renault 2.0's chassis No.1.

These three days of testing allowed new teams to show just how much they want to be part of New Formula Renault 2.0, and also to win the hearts of the drivers. The teams KTR, CRAM Competition and Korainen Bros were also present at Motorland Aragon to drive their first laps in their new cars. At KTR, Kurt Mollekens was charged with breaking in his team's cars, while Martin van Hove, Liroy Stuart, Antti Ramo and Mikkel Mac then took turns to try out the Belgian team's cars.

Andre Negrao drove the CRAM Competition car while the Finnish Korainen Bros team sent Miki Wekstrom and Bart Hykelma out on track. The first official collective test sessions for New Formula Renault 2.0 take place on the Valencia track on February 22 and 23.

-source: wsr