Max Defourny ended both Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Free Practice sessions as the quickest driver, with a personal best of 2min 14.542 set in the opening encounter around Silverstone during a mixed weather Friday.
Free Practice One ended with a R-ace GP 1-2-3, led by Defourny, with the Belgian driver looking to take first blood as the 30-car field got used to the damp Northamptonshire conditions.
Defourny though was in no way dominant, with Will Palmer and Robert Shwartzman within a few tenths of a second during the opening encounter. Most notably though, the rain had spread out the field, really showing the class difference of the front-runners. Henrique Chaves and Sacha Fenestraz were the closest non R-ace GP driver, over a second slower than the 18-year-old.
The second Free Practice session was equally as troubling, with Axel Matus bringing out a temporary red flag barely ten minutes into running. It hadn’t been the first time he’d done so, having trapped himself in the gravel during practice one. Palmer would set the early pace as over half the drivers decided not to set a competitive time.
The Dutch MP Motorsport drivers of Richard Verschoor and Jarno Opmeer found some pace at the half way mark, but even Palmer was unable to drop below the 1min 16sec barrier, he eventually finished the session sixth overall.
With 20 minutes to run though, the track started to dry and the benchmark came down with Defourny the first back on the pace. Late improvements from Chaves and Alex Peroni saw them round out the top three with Schwartzman in fourth overall from top rookie Max Fewtrell.
A red flag, caused by Thomas Neubauer, stopped the session with ten minutes to run, reducing time on track for the whole field.
