Robert Wickens (Photo Credit: World Series by Renault/ Frederic le Floc'h-DPPI)
Carlin maintained their superiority over the rest of the field by taking control of the second free practice session of the day at Paul Ricard, with championship leader Robert Wickens heading the field.
Wickens was the first man of the weekend to dip into the 1m 51secs and it was enough to secure him top spot in the session ahead of team mate Jean–Eric Vergne by 0.105 seconds.
It appears that neither driver is feeling the pressure as the battle for the drivers championship goes down to the wire.
Vergne said: “We worked hard and we did well on both worn and fresh tyres. This is a special weekend for me because I'm in demand with the media and the like. I need to focus 100 per cent on my race, though, because I have to score maximum points.”
Cesar Ramos was third for Fortec Motorsport, just 0.022 seconds ahead of Gravity–Charouz driver Brendon Hartley.
Albert Costa continued his impressive showing at Paul Ricard thus far by ending the session fifth after he was third fastest in the morning’s session.
Daniel Ricciardo, who had chosen to run on used rubber this morning, improved massively to end the session sixth after he was 17th in Practice One.
Alexander Rossi, fourth in the standings, was seventh while British driver Nick Yelloly, in only his third FR 3.5 meeting, was eighth.
Yelloly said: “My season in GP3 Series is over, and after my experience at Silverstone I really want to drive again in Formula Renault 3.5 Series. We came up with a solution at the start of the week and we're also working towards being at the final race in Barcelona. This is the first time I've driven with this layout, and I need to get used to it.”
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Robert Wickens Carlin 1m51.907s 2. Jean-Eric Vergne Carlin 1m52.012s + 0.105s 3. Cesar Ramos Fortec 1m52.276s + 0.369s 4. Brendon Hartley Gravity-Charouz 1m52.298s + 0.391s 5. Albert Costa Epic 1m52.321s + 0.414s 6. Daniel Ricciardo ISR 1m52.430s + 0.523s 7. Alexander Rossi Fortec 1m52.497s + 0.590s 8. Nick Yelloly Pons 1m52.587s + 0.680s 9. Daniil Move P1 1m52.651s + 0.744s 10. Jan Charouz Gravity-Charouz 1m52.652s + 0.745s 11. Oliver Webb Pons 1m52.675s + 0.768s 12. Daniel Zampieri BVM Target 1m52.695s + 0.788s 13. Stephane Richelmi Draco 1m52.706s + 0.799s 14. Kevin Korjus Tech 1 1m52.730s + 0.823s 15. Sergio Canamasas BVM Target 1m52.897s + 0.990s 16. Jake Rosenzweig Mofaz 1m52.922s + 1.015s 17. Sten Pentus Epic 1m52.930s + 1.023s 18. Nathanael Berthon ISR 1m53.021s + 1.114s 19. Nelson Panciatici KMP 1m53.131s + 1.224s 20. Anton Nebylitskiy KMP 1m53.139s + 1.232s 21. Walter Grubmuller P1 1m53.406s + 1.499s 22. Andre Negrao Draco 1m53.546s + 1.639s 23. Daniel McKenzie Comtec 1m53.646s + 1.739s 24. Arthur Pic Tech 1 1m53.888s + 1.981s 25. Daniel de Jong Comtec 1m53.952s + 2.045s 26. Fairuz Fauzy Mofaz 1m53.999s + 2.092s
