Kevin Magnussen leads Barcelona Formula Renault 3.5 test
Kevin Magnussen led the way on the first day of post-season Formula Renault 3.5 testing at Barcelona on Tuesday
The McLaren junior driver, who finished seventh in the championship with Carlin this season, led the way throughout the test, driving for DAMS.
Magnussen beat the lap record several times over the day, topping the times in both the morning and afternoon sessions.
"The conditions were perfect today, which explains why the times are so good," he said. "It's interesting to see how other teams work, and this is a good way to prepare for 2013."
Fellow 2012 FR3.5 racer Nico Muller ended the day second, switching from Draco to Pons for the test. He was just ahead of GP2 convert Marcus Ericsson, who was getting his first taste of the Renault category with P1 Motorsport.
"I need to do more laps, but I'm really happy with my first day," said the Swede. "The laptimes are similar to that of a GP2 car, but the time comes differently.
"Formula Renault 3.5 is faster in the corners, and I'll need to change my driving style to maintain speed in the turns."
Magnussen's 2012 Carlin team-mate Will Stevens was fourth for Fortec Motorsports, ahead of BVM Target's Tamas Pal Kiss, who competed in two FR3.5 rounds for the team after the GP3 season finished.
Formula 3 racers Pietro Fantin and Carlos Sainz were next up for Lotus and Carlin respectively, while new team AV Formula was eighth quickest with Arthur Pic on its first day in the category.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Kevin Magnussen DAMS 1m28.721s 2. Nico Muller Pons 1m29.148s + 0.427s 3. Marcus Ericsson P1 1m29.804s + 1.083s 4. Will Stevens Fortec 1m29.884s + 1.163s 5. Tamas Pal Kiss BVM Target 1m29.897s + 1.176s 6. Pietro Fantin Lotus 1m29.908s + 1.187s 7. Carlos Sainz Carlin 1m29.971s + 1.250s 8. Arthur Pic AV 1m30.016s + 1.295s 9. Lucas Foresti Arden Caterham 1m30.081s + 1.360s 10. Nikolay Martsenko Fortec 1m30.202s + 1.481s 11. Norman Nato Arden Caterham 1m30.254s + 1.533s 12. Will Buller Comtec 1m30.356s + 1.635s 13. Zoel Amberg Pons 1m30.420s + 1.699s 14. Marco Sorensen Lotus 1m30.491s + 1.770s 15. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 1m30.515s + 1.794s 16. Vittorio Ghirelli Draco 1m30.524s + 1.803s 17. Sergey Sirotkin DAMS 1m30.602s + 1.881s 18. Christopher Zanella Comtec 1m30.664s + 1.943s 19. Conor Daly Tech 1 1m30.888s + 2.167s 20. Albert Costa Draco 1m30.924s + 2.203s 21. Marlon Stockinger AV 1m31.241s + 2.520s 22. Yann Cunha ISR 1m31.872s + 3.151s 23. Niccolo Schiro BVM Target 1m32.051s + 3.330s 24. Filip Salaquarda ISR 1m32.238s + 3.517s
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