Dillmann leads FR3.5's guest test

The F3 men put on an impressive display. ISR ran German F3 champion Tom Dillmann to the fastest time in the session, less than two tenths of a second off the day's overall fastest time set by Adrian Quaife-Hobbs.

"It's great that Renault invited us here, I wanted to drive a car like this for a long time, but I have always struggled with the budget," said Dillmann.

"I don't have any firm plans for next year or tests lined up. It is also a shame that we will miss out on Macau - the only way I can go there is if someone drops out at the last minute. I know previous German F3 champions Carlo van Dam and Joao Paulo de Oliveira went into professional rides in Japan, but with the crisis out there it's very difficult for them to take a European driver.

"I'm on the hunt for partners to support me in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series next season. I'm hoping that a fastest lap will help me with my plans."

Williams Formula 1 reserve driver and F3 Euro Series race-winner Valtteri Bottas ended the afternoon session second-fastest for Tech 1 Racing, 0.018 seconds behind the Frenchman, and ahead of Pons Racing's Kevin Magnussen.

"At the moment everything is open for next year," said Bottas. "I had the offer of coming to test this car last year, but my management [Didier Coton] knew I would be staying in F3 so we said no.

"If everything stays normal I should be with Williams again next year, but whether I am in F3 again, doing this or something else isn't decided. The car is pretty fast, but it is also quite big, so in some corners it is a bit lazy. Overall it has been a really positive day."

British F3 champion Jean-Eric Vergne and European Open F3 champion Marco Barba, both of whom have raced in the FR3.5 category, completed the top five.

The majority of the drivers invited were experiencing their first taste of Formula Renault 3.5, including national and regional Formula Renault 2.0 champions Kevin Korjus (Eurocup), Tom Blomqvist (UK), Ludwig Ghidi (NEC), Francesco Frisone (Italy) and Miika Kunrata (Finland). Estonian Korjus had the honour of finishing fastest of the Formula Renault 2.0 graduates who arrived without prior experience, in 11th place.

"This car is a cracker," said Korjus, whose management is in discussions with F3 and FR3.5 teams for next year. "The power was quite a surprise in the first few laps, but you soon get used to it. The braking is such that you really have to work hard to keep on the pace. I worked really hard with Jean-Eric Vergne. He's helped me a lot. We tried different set-ups today to see how I react."

The Formula Renault 3.5 Series now goes into hibernation, awaiting the first collective test session in early 2011.

Pos  Driver              Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Tom Dillmann        ISR              1m42.866s
 2.  Valtteri Bottas     Tech 1           1m42.884s  + 0.018s
 3.  Kevin Magnussen     Pons             1m43.231s  + 0.365s
 4.  Jean Eric Vergne    Carlin           1m43.539s  + 0.673s
 5.  Marco Barba         Draco            1m43.575s  + 0.709s
 6.  Stephane Richelmi   Draco            1m43.658s  + 0.792s
 7.  Marco Wittmann      KMP              1m43.661s  + 0.795s
 8.  Cesar Ramos         P1               1m43.720s  + 0.854s
 9.  Giovanni Venturini  Epsilon Euskadi  1m43.795s  + 0.929s
10.  Will Stevens        P1               1m43.877s  + 1.011s
11.  Kevin Korjus        Carlin           1m43.997s  + 1.131s
12.  Tom Blomqvist       Fortec           1m44.054s  + 1.188s
13.  Oli Webb            Fortec           1m44.063s  + 1.197s
14.  Kimiya Sato         Comtec           1m44.119s  + 1.253s
15.  Luciano Bacheta     Junior Lotus     1m44.151s  + 1.285s
16.  Adriano Buzaid      Tech 1           1m44.182s  + 1.316s
17.  Lewis Williamson    ISR              1m44.636s  + 1.770s
18.  Ludwig Ghidi        Comtec           1m44.775s  + 1.909s
19.  David Fumanelli     Pons             1m45.026s  + 2.160s
20.  Yuji Kunimoto       Epsilon Euskadi  1m45.608s  + 2.742s
21.  Francesco Frisone   BVM Target       1m45.751s  + 2.885s
22.  Bruno Andrade       Junior Lotus     1m46.013s  + 3.147s
23.  Miika Kunranta      FHV Interwetten  1m46.251s  + 3.385s
24.  Bastien Borget      KMP              1m46.932s  + 4.066s
25.  Yuichi Nakayama     FHV Interwetten  1m48.998s  + 6.132s