Belgian Virtuosi UK driver Sam Dejonghe topped the opening session of round two of the Auto GP World Series at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, but it was Tamas Pal Kiss of Zele Racing who was fastest on the day as he was quickest in the second session.
Dejonghe, only in his second ever Auto GP event, topped the first session ahead of the two winners of the Marrakech races a week ago, Markus Pommer for Super Nova International and Kimiya Sato for Euronova Racing. Pal Kiss was fourth fastest, who has Japanese driver Yoshitaka Kuroda as his team-mate for this event in the Zele Racing team in place of Sergio Campana. Dejonghe’s Virtuosi UK team-mate Andrea Roda completed the top five.
The afternoon session saw Pal Kiss come to the front ahead of Sato, while Eurotech Engineering’s Kevin Giovesi was third fastest. Pommer and Roda once again rounded out the top five.
There are only twelve cars on the grid for this round, with Virtuosi UK reducing its entry from three to two cars, Slovakian Richard Gonda the man to miss out. Francesco Dracone has stepped out of the #20 Ibiza Racing entry in place of fellow Italian Niccolo Schiro, a series rookie. Apart from that and Kuroda replacing Campana, it is the same line-up as in Morocco last week.
Paul Ricard Free Practice 1 Times
POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
1 | Sam Dejonghe | BEL | Virtuosi UK | 1:17.956 |
2 | Markus Pommer | GER | Super Nova International | 1:18.019 |
3 | Kimiya Sato | JAP | Euronova Racing | 1:18.326 |
4 | Tamas Pal Kiss | HUN | Zele Racing | 1:18.454 |
5 | Andrea Roda | ITA | Virtuosi UK | 1:18.502 |
6 | Michela Cerruti | ITA | Super Nova International | 1:18.698 |
7 | Kevin Giovesi | ITA | Eurotech Engineering | 1:19.330 |
8 | Loris Spinelli | ITA | Eurotech Engineering | 1:19.547 |
9 | Yoshitaka Kuroda | JAP | Zele Racing | 1:20.140 |
10 | Giuseppe Cipriani | ITA | Ibiza Racing | 1:20.450 |
11 | Michele La Rosa | ITA | MLR71 by Euronova | 1:21.113 |
12 | Niccolo Schiro | ITA | Ibiza Racing | 1:21.862 |
Paul Ricard Free Practice 2 Times
POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
1 | Tamas Pal Kiss | HUN | Zele Racing | 1:17.808 |
2 | Kimiya Sato | JAP | Euronova Racing | 1:17.939 |
3 | Kevin Giovesi | ITA | Eurotech Engineering | 1:18.157 |
4 | Markus Pommer | GER | Super Nova International | 1:18.241 |
5 | Andrea Roda | ITA | Virtuosi UK | 1:18.526 |
6 | Michela Cerruti | ITA | Super Nova International | 1:18.613 |
7 | Loris Spinelli | ITA | Eurotech Engineering | 1:18.841 |
8 | Sam Dejonghe | BEL | Virtuosi UK | 1:19.054 |
9 | Yoshitaka Kuroda | JAP | Zele Racing | 1:19.479 |
10 | Giuseppe Cipriani | ITA | Ibiza Racing | 1:19.617 |
11 | Michele La Rosa | ITA | MLR71 by Euronova | 1:19.640 |
12 | Niccola Schiro | ITA | Ibiza Racing | 1:24.280 |