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Robert Wickens back on top in Silverstone Formula Renault 3.5 practice two

Robert Wickens recovered from a throttle problem, which restricted him to 83 per cent throttle and 19th on the timesheets in this morning's opening Formula Renault 3.5 session at Silverstone, to record the fastest time in this afternoon's second collective test

The Marussia-backed Carlin racer finished 0.164 seconds ahead of GP3 regular Nick Yelloly, who adapted superbly on his debut appearance in the category with Pons Racing.

"The initial impression can be overwhelming because this is a fast car compared to GP3," said Yelloly. "I think it's the sound that scares you more than anything! It was a really late deal with Pons. We only decided to do it on Wednesday. I have obviously never driven anything quicker than a GP3, but I love this car, it's so nice to drive.

"It has been great day, I didn't use new tyres this morning and was P4. Then I put new tyres on this afternoon and was P2, I don't think you can wipe the smile off my face. I had lost a bit of confidence because we haven't been fast in GP3, so I wanted to see what I was like in a bigger car. I think I have managed to impress a few people and I haven't done that since I was in Formula Renault 2.0."

Mofaz Racing's Jake Rosenzweig was an impressive third, but the American was involved in an incident that brought out the red flags with fewer than three minutes of the session remaining.

ISR's Daniel Ricciardo returned to the circuit where he made his Formula 1 debut with HRT in July to finish fourth.

Points leader Jean-Eric Vergne was among the drivers frustrated by the red flag. The Frenchman had mounted new tyres one or two laps later than his Carlin team-mate Wickens, and felt that fifth, ahead of compatriot Nathanael Berthon (ISR), did not represent his potential.

Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup graduate Arthur Pic interrupted the session with an off at Copse. Pic was able to walk away from the crash unaided.

Pos  Driver             Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Robert Wickens     Carlin           1m46.419s
 2.  Nick Yelloly       Pons             1m46.583s  + 0.164s
 3.  Jake Rosenzweig    Mofaz            1m46.744s  + 0.325s
 4.  Daniel Ricciardo   ISR              1m46.872s  + 0.453s
 5.  Jean-Eric Vergne   Carlin           1m46.970s  + 0.551s
 6.  Nathanael Berthon  ISR              1m46.985s  + 0.566s
 7.  Albert Costa       EPIC             1m47.124s  + 0.705s
 8.  Alexander Rossi    Fortec           1m47.127s  + 0.708s
 9.  Cesar Ramos        Fortec           1m47.238s  + 0.819s
10.  Walter Grubmuller  P1               1m47.250s  + 0.831s
11.  Oliver Webb        Pons             1m47.296s  + 0.877s
12.  Daniil Move        P1               1m47.309s  + 0.890s
13.  Kevin Korjus       Tech 1           1m47.341s  + 0.922s
14.  Arthur Pic         Tech 1           1m47.526s  + 1.107s
15.  Andre Negrao       Draco            1m47.553s  + 1.134s
16.  Sergio Canamasas   BVM Target       1m47.620s  + 1.201s
17.  Nelson Panciatici  KMP              1m47.622s  + 1.203s
18.  Anton Nebylitskiy  KMP              1m47.624s  + 1.205s
19.  Daniel Zampieri    BVM Target       1m47.693s  + 1.274s
20.  Brendon Hartley    Gravity-Charouz  1m47.753s  + 1.334s
21.  Fairuz Fauzy       Mofaz            1m47.925s  + 1.506s
22.  Daniel McKenzie    Comtec           1m48.278s  + 1.859s
23.  Sten Pentus        EPIC             1m48.633s  + 2.214s
24.  Daniel de Jong     Comtec           1m48.768s  + 2.349s
25.  Stephane Richelmi  Draco            1m48.957s  + 2.538s
26.  Jan Charouz        Gravity-Charouz  1m49.850s  + 3.431s

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