Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Guerrieri tops Barcelona practice

Esteban Guerrieri sent out a statement of intent to his championship rivals by recording the fastest time in the opening Formula Renault 3.5 free practice session at Barcelona this morning

The Argentinean ISR racer is one of three drivers who can capture the series' title in this weekend's final round.

Guerrieri lies third in the standing, 16 points behind long-time championship leader Mikhail Aleshin. The Carlin driver ended the morning in eighth, but will not be too despondent to see his closest challenger, Tech 1 Racing's Daniel Ricciardo, down in 19th place.

Red Bull Formula 1 reserve driver Ricciardo, who is just three points off Aleshin's series lead, ran on old tyres during the session and concentrated on light aerodynamic set-up work for tomorrow's opening race.

In search of his maiden victory of the season, 2009 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup champion Albert Costa was second fastest, some four tenths shy of Guerrieri's 1m34.845s benchmark.

Junior Lotus Racing's Nelson Panciatici was third, leading a strong showing from Carlin's American rookie Jake Rosenzweig. P1 Motorsport's Walter Grubmuller and Costa's Epsilon Euskadi team-mate Keisuke Kunimoto completed the top six.

Bruno Mendez was forced to sit out his home race after breaking his hand during a debut Superleague appearance with Atletico Madrid at the Chinese Ordos circuit last weekend.

Interwetten has substituted the 2009 European Formula 3 Open champion with former driver, and Barcelona specialist, Salvador Duran, who finished 10th fastest this morning.

"It was a very last minute deal," said Duran. "I have been racing in NASCAR Mexico this year, so it was quite difficult to adapt to the G-force and the braking points. I am here because I have a very good relationship with [FHV Interwetten boss] Walter Thimmler. We've worked together for two and a half years, and he is helping me a lot.

"Honestly, I think a top 10 this weekend would be a good result, as I have a lot of respect for the drivers ahead of me. NASCAR Mexico is a good professional series with grids of 42 or 43 cars, but it is a mixture of racing and show business, so I would quite like to come back to something like [Formula Renault 3.5] next year."

Recently crowned British Formula 3 champion Jean-Eric Vergne joined Mendez as an absentee, owing to prior work obligations. The Frenchman is set to arrive at the circuit this afternoon, but will most likely have his first run of the weekend in Saturday morning's qualifying session.

Reigning Formula 2 champion Dean Stoneman acquitted himself well on his competition debut in the category, finishing two tenths off his closest rival in 23rd. The Briton is stepping into a seat recently vacated by Daniil Move at Junior Lotus.

Pos  Driver             Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Esteban Guerrieri  ISR              1m34.845s
 2.  Albert Costa       Epsilon Euskadi  1m35.302s  + 0.457s
 3.  Nelson Panciatici  Junior Lotus     1m35.304s  + 0.459s
 4.  Jake Rosenzweig    Carlin           1m35.355s  + 0.510s
 5.  Walter Grubmuller  P1               1m35.447s  + 0.602s
 6.  Keisuke Kunimoto   Epsilon Euskadi  1m35.524s  + 0.679s
 7.  Anton Nebylitskiy  KMP              1m35.658s  + 0.813s
 8.  Mikhail Aleshin    Carlin           1m35.715s  + 0.870s
 9.  Filip Salaquarda   ISR              1m36.055s  + 1.210s
10.  Salvador Duran     FHV Interwetten  1m36.171s  + 1.326s
11.  Jon Lancaster      Fortec           1m36.179s  + 1.334s
12.  Victor Garcia      KMP              1m36.182s  + 1.337s
13.  Sergio Canamasas   FHV Interwetten  1m36.280s  + 1.435s
14.  Julian Leal        Draco            1m36.384s  + 1.539s
15.  Nathanael Berthon  Draco            1m36.396s  + 1.551s
16.  Jan Charouz        P1               1m36.418s  + 1.573s
17.  Stefano Coletti    Comtec           1m36.493s  + 1.648s
18.  Daniel Zampieri    Pons             1m36.596s  + 1.751s
19.  Daniel Ricciardo   Tech 1           1m36.717s  + 1.872s
20.  Sten Pentus        Fortec           1m36.774s  + 1.929s
21.  Federico Leo       Pons             1m36.914s  + 2.069s
22.  Greg Mansell       Comtec           1m36.932s  + 2.087s
23.  Dean Stoneman      Junior Lotus     1m37.188s  + 2.343s

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Guerrieri triumphs after epic battle
Next article Ricciardo fastest in second practice

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe