Diego Menchaca left it late but the Mexican ended the first World Series Formula v8 3.5 Collective Test session at the Nurburgring on Friday with the quickest time.
The Fortec Motorsports driver set a best time of 1:43.296s with just minutes remaining on the clock to top the session, with Menchaca denying series debutant Alex Palou by 0.116 seconds.
Palou drove the #10 Teo Martin Motorsport machine in place of Nelson Mason, but the young Spaniard did not take long to get up to speed, and the former GP3 Series race winner and current Japanese Formula 3 star set a best time of 1:43.412s.
Egor Orudzhev was fast throughout the session but the SMP Racing by AVF driver was forced to settle for third, just ahead of championship leader Pietro Fittipaldi of the Charouz-run Lotus squad.
Alfonso Celis Jr was fifth fastest in the second of the Fortec Motorsports machine, with Yu Kanamaru the leading of the RP Motorsport trio in sixth, 0.387 seconds down on Menchaca’s time up front.
Matevos Isaakyan was seventh despite the SMP Racing by AVF driver stopping on track late in the session, with Konstantin Tereschenko, Damiano Fioravanti and Rene Binder completing the top ten.
The second Collective Test session will take place later this afternoon.
Nurburgring Collective Test 1 Result
[table id=2223 /]
