Will Palmer set the quickest time on the opening day of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in the second of the two collective test sessions held on Friday.
The British driver had a low-key first session as he concluded it down in eighteenth after not setting a lap time on new tyres, but the R-ace GP ace headed the field in the afternoon with a new track record for the category of 1:47.978s, almost a second faster than the previous best lap.
Robert Shwartzman was fastest in the opening of the two fifty-minute sessions, also for R-ace GP, with a best time also below the previous lap record, his 1:48.365s, 0.142 seconds clear of Tech 1 Racing’s Gabriel Aubry, while Josef Kaufmann Racing’s Sacha Fenestraz was a further 0.189 seconds back in third.
Max Defourny, the favourite for the championship for many, was fourth fastest in a good day for R-ace GP, while Red Bull Junior Richard Verschoor completed the top five on MP Motorsport’s return to the category, with the Dutchman the leading rookie of the session ahead of team-mate Jarno Opmeer.
Chinese driver Yifei Ye and Australian Luis Leeds were seventh and eighth for Josef Kaufmann Racing, while Aleksandr Vartanyan and Max Fewtrell completed the top ten.
Fenestraz was best of the rest behind Palmer in the second session, 0.244 seconds back, with Shwartzman and Defourny third and fourth ahead of Ye and Vartanyan.
Henrique Chaves was seventh for AVF by Adrian Vallés ahead of Opmeer, while Daniel Ticktum ended ninth on Arden Motorsport’s first weekend in the series ahead of Verschoor.
Qualifying for race one takes place on Saturday morning.
Robert Shwartzman was quickest in the opening session – Credit: Florent Gooden / DPPI
Autodromo Nazionale Monza Collective Test 1 Results
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Autodromo Nazionale Monza Collective Test 2 Results
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