Matthieu Vaxiviere tops Formula Renault 3.5 test at Motorland Aragon
Lotus Formula 1 Junior Team driver Matthieu Vaxiviere set the fastest time in both sessions of the first day of the final Formula Renault 3.5 pre-season test at Motorland Aragon.
Lotus Formula 1 junior driver Matthieu Vaxiviere set the fastest time in both sessions of the first day of the final Formula Renault 3.5 pre-season test at Motorland Aragon.
Vaxiviere recorded a fastest lap of 1m41.331s in the morning session, before improving to 1m40.635s in the afternoon.
"This morning, we did a good job with our race settings before fine tuning the set-up for fast laps," said Vaxiviere.
"We wanted to put in a time on new tyres at the end of the session. It turned out good and confirms our potential on this track.
"Our primary satisfaction lies in the step we've made with the new regulations, especially concerning the DRS.
"Tomorrow will be more important, we need to correctly prepare the car in low-downforce configuration [mandatory for Saturday qualifying and races this season] and also pitstops."
Red Bull-backed Dean Stoneman ended the day 0.517s adrift of Vaxiviere in second for reigning champion team DAMS.
Stoneman had suffered a heavy accident that disrupted his previous test outing at Jerez earlier this month and was keen to recover lost ground.
"It was a good day with the second best time this afternoon," said Stoneman.
"We tried different things to get used to the car after Jerez and see if the different changes provoked an improvement or not."
"I think that Vaxiviere put in one more lap than me, so I would've been able to improve even more and I made some mistakes costing me a couple of tenths on my quickest lap.
"Tomorrow, it's all about learning the car with low downforce because we didn't run much at Jerez."
Formula Renault 2.0 graduate Egor Orudzhev took third for Arden Motorsport.
The SMP-backed Russian headed Fortec's Jazeman Jaafar and Jerez pace-setter Tio Ellinas.
Single-seater stalwart Tom Dillmann completed the top six for Carlin.
Fresh from making his F1 debut in the Malaysian Grand Prix, Roberto Merhi completed a dash from Sepang to join the track action during the morning for Pons.
"Today was a positive day as Pons Racing got the car ready when I came here but I do have a little jet lag," said Merhi.
"I would say I am at 90 per cent of my capabilities."
Merhi's Pons team-mate Philo Armand and Orudzhev caused red flags after suffering off-track moments.
The test concludes on Tuesday, when drivers will concentrate on low-downforce running.
MORNING SESSION
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | Lotus | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.331s | - | 36 |
2 | Jazeman Jaafar | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.559s | 0.228s | 37 |
3 | Oliver Rowland | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.562s | 0.231s | 45 |
4 | Tom Dillmann | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.698s | 0.367s | 37 |
5 | Gustav Malja | Strakka Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.771s | 0.440s | 36 |
6 | Dean Stoneman | DAMS | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.871s | 0.540s | 37 |
7 | Tio Ellinas | Strakka Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.883s | 0.552s | 45 |
8 | Beitske Visser | AVF | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.935s | 0.604s | 30 |
9 | Nyck de Vries | DAMS | Dallara/Zytek | 1m42.031s | 0.700s | 36 |
10 | Pietro Fantin | International Draco Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m42.119s | 0.788s | 35 |
11 | Egor Orudzhev | Arden Motorsport | Dallara/Zytek | 1m42.179s | 0.848s | 39 |
12 | Meindert van Buuren | Lotus | Dallara/Zytek | 1m42.993s | 1.662s | 47 |
13 | Alfonso Celis | AVF | Dallara/Zytek | 1m43.040s | 1.709s | 32 |
14 | Roman Mavlanov | Zeta Corse | Dallara/Zytek | 1m43.441s | 2.110s | 14 |
15 | Aurelien Panis | Tech 1 Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m43.529s | 2.198s | 52 |
16 | Nicholas Latifi | Arden Motorsport | Dallara/Zytek | 1m43.625s | 2.294s | 21 |
17 | Roberto Merhi | Pons Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m43.754s | 2.423s | 19 |
18 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Zytek | 1m43.855s | 2.524s | 37 |
19 | Roy Nissany | Tech 1 Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m43.857s | 2.526s | 43 |
20 | Bruno Bonifacio | International Draco Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m44.247s | 2.916s | 22 |
21 | Philo Paz Armand | Pons Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m44.459s | 3.128s | 34 |
AFTERNOON SESSION
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | Lotus | Dallara/Zytek | 1m40.635s | - | 16 |
2 | Dean Stoneman | DAMS | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.152s | 0.517s | 28 |
3 | Egor Orudzhev | Arden Motorsport | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.295s | 0.660s | 22 |
4 | Jazeman Jaafar | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.452s | 0.817s | 25 |
5 | Tio Ellinas | Strakka Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.457s | 0.822s | 35 |
6 | Tom Dillmann | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.509s | 0.874s | 25 |
7 | Meindert van Buuren | Lotus | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.525s | 0.890s | 23 |
8 | Gustav Malja | Strakka Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.545s | 0.910s | 41 |
9 | Bruno Bonifacio | International Draco Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.615s | 0.980s | 20 |
10 | Oliver Rowland | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.651s | 1.016s | 21 |
11 | Pietro Fantin | International Draco Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.698s | 1.063s | 35 |
12 | Beitske Visser | AVF | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.851s | 1.216s | 21 |
13 | Roberto Merhi | Pons Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m41.867s | 1.232s | 40 |
14 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Zytek | 1m42.281s | 1.646s | 29 |
15 | Nicholas Latifi | Arden Motorsport | Dallara/Zytek | 1m42.351s | 1.716s | 29 |
16 | Alfonso Celis | AVF | Dallara/Zytek | 1m42.494s | 1.859s | 31 |
17 | Nyck de Vries | DAMS | Dallara/Zytek | 1m42.526s | 1.891s | 31 |
18 | Roman Mavlanov | Zeta Corse | Dallara/Zytek | 1m42.597s | 1.962s | 25 |
19 | Aurelien Panis | Tech 1 Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m42.658s | 2.023s | 38 |
20 | Roy Nissany | Tech 1 Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m42.820s | 2.185s | 31 |
21 | Philo Paz Armand | Pons Racing | Dallara/Zytek | 1m44.871s | 4.236s | 24 |
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