Barba quickest in Nurburgring test

The Spaniard set a lap of 1:44.643 in the afternoon to beat Carlin driver Sebastian Vettel by 0.2 seconds.

"I am obviously pleased with today's performance," said Barba. "We improved throughout the day. This morning I drove with worn tyres and we put on a new set at the right time.

"We will try to keep improving tomorrow, particularly in qualifying conditions."

Vettel returned to the series at the Nurburgring having missed the previous test to focus on his BMW-Sauber Formula One duties. He kept a low profile until leaping up to second place late in the afternoon session.

"I hadn't driven the car since December last year," Vettel said.

"Without traction control, obviously the Formula Renault 3.5 has a lot more oversteer than a F1 car and it is still just as enjoyable to drive.

"We didn't do a lot of work on the setup. The most important thing today was for me to get used to the car again."

Milos Pavlovic completed the top three ahead of Formula Three graduates Guido van der Garde and James Walker.

Alvaro Parente had led the morning session but failed to improve after trying a different set-up in the afternoon and fell to 11th in the combined times.

He was just behind Alejandro Nunez in the fastest of reigning champions Comtec Racing's entries.

His teammate Jaap van Lagen completed very few laps as the team changed the engine and rear axle to cure a serious vibration.

"Now, finally, I have got a healthy car to drive again," said van Lagen at the end of the day. "The season starts for me tomorrow..."

Pos  Driver                Team               Time        
 1.  Alvaro Barba          Draco              1:44.643
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Carlin             1:44.873  + 0.230
 3.  Milos Pavlovic        Draco              1:45.305  + 0.662
 4.  Giedo van der Garde   Victory            1:45.463  + 0.820
 5.  James Walker          Fortec             1:45.529  + 0.886
 6.  Marco Bonanomi        RC                 1:45.558  + 0.915
 7.  Miguel Molina         Pons               1:45.582  + 0.939
 8.  Fairuz Fauzy          Cram               1:45.617  + 0.974
 9.  Felipe Albuquerque    Epsilon Euskadi    1:45.625  + 0.982
10.  Alejandro Nunez       Comtec             1:45.728  + 1.085
11.  Alvaro Parente        Tech 1             1:45.749  + 1.106
12.  Ben Hanley            Prema              1:45.801  + 1.158
13.  Davide Valsecchi      Epsilon Euskadi    1:46.037  + 1.394
14.  Celso Miguez          Eurointernational  1:46.134  + 1.491
15.  Bertrand Baguette     KTR                1:46.203  + 1.560
16.  Carlos Iaconelli      Pons               1:46.243  + 1.600
17.  Mikhail Aleshin       Carlin             1:46.279  + 1.636
18.  Richard Philippe      Fortec             1:46.299  + 1.656
19.  Pasquale di Sabatino  GD                 1:46.309  + 1.666
20.  Salvador Duran        Interwetten        1:46.332  + 1.689
21.  Alex Ciompi           Eurointernational  1:46.373  + 1.730
22.  Clivio Piccione       RC                 1:46.385  + 1.742
23.  Julian Jousse         Tech 1             1:46.438  + 1.795
24.  Charlie Kimball       Victory            1:46.628  + 1.985
25.  Sean McIntosh         GD                 1:46.639  + 1.996
26.  Xavier Maassen        Prema              1:46.740  + 2.097
27.  Pippa Mann            Cram               1:46.901  + 2.258
28.  Guillaume Moreau      KTR                1:47.397  + 2.754
29.  Daniel Move           Interwetten        1:47.679  + 3.036
30.  Jaap van Lagen        Comtec             1:58.950  + 14.307