Hartley quickest in Barcelona test
Brendon Hartley finished on top in this week's two-day Formula Renault 3.5 test at the Barcelona circuit
The Kiwi enjoyed a productive time with P1 Motorsport, who entered him in a solitary race outing at Silverstone in September.
Hartley's fastest time of 1m32.820s was recorded on Wednesday afternoon.
"We had our work cut out for us here," said Hartley. "P1 Motorsport lost all of its data last year in a fire. So my first task was to try out a whole range of things to rebuild their database. We will have to do the same thing in Motorland Aragon.
"In the end, I only managed to get one quick lap in. I feel good at P1 Motorsport and the work we are doing together is very constructive. I'm still lacking a little bit in terms of budget, but the ideal thing would be for me to return with them next season in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series."
There were 22 drivers present on Tuesday's opening day of testing.
Italian team BVM Target made its debut Formula Renault 3.5 track appearance with Mirko Bortolotti and Daniel Zampieri at the wheel, ahead of a full assault on the 2011 series. FHV Interwetten.com and Pons Racing elected to miss the test.
Mixed weather greeted the teams on both days, before clearing for the afternoon sessions. Hartley made the most of his experience to head the times on Tuesday morning. American Alexander Rossi finished second, quickly re-acclimatising to the Czech ISR team that ran him at Monaco this year.
Rossi was second again in the afternoon. His fellow GP3 racer Adrian Quaife-Hobbs set a time of 1m33.595s for Comtec, eclipsing Rossi by 0.065s.
Experienced Russian Anton Nebylitskiy emerged fastest on Wednesday morning with an effort of 1m35.668s, before conditions improved to allow Hartley to set the overall benchmark time from Rossi and Quaife-Hobbs.
Among the invitees were this year's Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup drivers Arthur Pic, at Tech 1 Racing, Epsilon Euskadi's Giovanni Venturini, International Draco Racing's Andre Negrao and UK championship racer Will Stevens who tested for Comtec.
Tuesday times Pos Driver Team Time 1. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Comtec 1m33.595 2. Alexander Rossi ISR 1m33.660 3. Robert Wickens Fortec 1m33.770 4. Walter Grubmuller P1 1m34.069 5. Julian Leal ISR 1m34.206 6. Brendon Hartley P1 1m34.473 7. Arthur Pic Tech 1 1m34.524 8. Albert Costa Epsilon 1m34.625 9. Giovanni Venturini Epsilon 1m34.822 10. Nelson Panciatici KMP 1m34.827 11. Anton Neblitskiy KMP 1m34.881 12. Stefano Richelmi Draco 1m34.925 13. Mirko Bortolotti BVM 1m35.062 14. Max Chilton Carlin 1m35.211 15. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 1m35.331 16. Daniel Zampieri BVM 1m35.462 17. Ivan Lukashevich Junior Lotus 1m35.816 18. Andre Negrao Draco 1m35.934 19. Will Stevens Comtec 1m36.218 20. Daniel McKenzie Fortec 1m36.453 21. Jean-Eric Vergne Tech 1 1m36.774 22. Pierre Thiriet Junior Lotus 1m38.272
Wednesday times Pos Driver Team Time 1. Brendon Hartley P1 1m32.820 2. Alexander Rossi ISR 1m33.100 3. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Comtec 1m33.648 4. Daniel Zampieri Fortec 1m33.709 5. Albert Costa Epsilon 1m33.832 6. Nathanael Berthon Tech 1 1m33.921 7. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 1m34.024 8. Mirko Bortolotti BVM 1m34.072 9. Max Chilton Carlin 1m34.072 10. Arthur Pic Tech 1 1m34.082 11. Daniil Move ISR 1m34.178 12. Walter Grubmuller P1 1m34.183 13. Sergio Canamasas Epsilon 1m34.234 14. Nelson Panciatici KMP 1m34.512 15. Giovanni Venturini Junior Lotus 1m34.513 16. Will Stevens Comtec 1m34.525 17. Anton Neblitskiy KMP 1m34.686 18. Daniel McKenzie Fortec 1m34.971 19. Daniel de Jong Draco 1m35.332 20. Andre Negrao Draco 1m37.071
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