Photo: Bastien Baudin / DPPI / Renault Sport Media
Strakka Racing’s new signing Max Defourny topped the timesheets on the opening day of the first Formula Renault 2.0 NEC pre-season test at Hockenheim.
Defourny topped three of the six sessions and managed to log the three quickest laps of the running.
The day kicked off with a 1-2 for Koiranen GP’s Alps drivers Stefan Riener and Philip Hamprecht. In third, Roy Geerts narrowly led BRDC F4 graduate Raoul Hyman and JKR’s Dries Vanthoor.
Vanthoor then powered through to the lead late in session two, with Hamprecht and Riener behind. Defourny and Geerts completed the top five.
Defourny then became the first driver to dip into the 1:57s and was more than half a second clear of Riener. Hyman led Hamprecht in third, with Vanthoor in fifth.
Riener was back into the lead in session four, a tenth up on Defourny and Vanthoor. Nikita Mazepin and Hyman were far behind in fourth and fifth.
Defourny notched up his second session-topping lap of the day in the penultimate run, comfortably in the clear of Vanthoor and Robin Hansson. Josef Zaruba and Mazepin, fourth and fifth respectively, were a second off.
The test day concluded with Defourny one-upping his earlier benchmark from session three, while Pietro Fittipaldi of Fortec moved up to second. Vanthoor, Riener and Mazepin concluded the top five.
In addition to the drivers officially announced for FR2.0 seats in 2014, the first Hockenheim testing day featured a number of free agents. 2013 karting world champion Tom Joyner ran for Strakka Racing, while Rahul Raj Mayer of BRDC F4 lapped in Mark Burdett Motorsport’s car.
The aforementioned Hyman took to the track with Mark Godwin Racing, while Oliver Soderstrom, who was set for a double campaign in Formula Renault 1.6 before the European Series folded, partnered Hansson at Fragus BR.
Fortec’s FIA F3 drivers Fittipaldi and Matt Rao took the opportunity to get some mileage around Hockenheim, which will be visited twice by the series.
In addition to the 20 FR2.0 cars, two FinnDrive teammates completed the day’s programme in 1.6 machinery, with Ilmari Korpivaara clearing Juuso Puhakka by less than a tenth.
Combined session results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Cl. | S1 | S2 | S3 | S4 | S5 | S6 |
| 1 | Max Defourny | Strakka Racing | 2.0 | 1:40.305 | 1:39.100 | 1:37.826 | 1:38.522 | 1:38.105 | 1:37.755 |
| 2 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Fortec Motorsport | 2.0 | 1:40.591 | 1:40.134 | 1:39.404 | No Time | 1:39.755 | 1:38.054 |
| 3 | Dries Vanthoor | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 2.0 | 1:39.674 | 1:38.365 | 1:38.868 | 1:38.536 | 1:38.558 | 1:38.072 |
| 4 | Stefan Riener | Koiranen GP | 2.0 | 1:39.161 | 1:38.941 | 1:38.405 | 1:38.388 | 1:39.247 | 1:38.088 |
| 5 | Nikita Mazepin | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 2.0 | 1:43.518 | 1:39.736 | 1:39.263 | 1:39.130 | 1:39.124 | 1:38.119 |
| 6 | Philip Hamprecht | Koiranen GP | 2.0 | 1:39.543 | 1:38.723 | 1:38.638 | 1:39.500 | 1:39.219 | 1:38.194 |
| 7 | Raoul Hyman | MGR Motorsport | 2.0 | 1:39.636 | 1:39.433 | 1:38.617 | 1:39.154 | 1:39.837 | 1:38.320 |
| 8 | Jehan Daruvala | Fortec Motorsport | 2.0 | 1:41.174 | 1:40.053 | 1:39.768 | 1:39.917 | 1:40.448 | 1:38.567 |
| 9 | Robin Hansson | Fragus BR Motorsport | 2.0 | No Time | 1:39.867 | 1:39.442 | 1:39.183 | 1:38.645 | No Time |
| 10 | Josef Zaruba | AVF | 2.0 | 1:39.704 | 1:39.819 | 1:38.919 | 1:39.332 | 1:39.084 | 1:39.375 |
| 11 | Tom Joyner | Strakka Racing | 2.0 | 1:46.991 | 1:41.972 | 1:40.089 | 1:40.751 | 1:40.787 | 1:39.022 |
| 12 | Rahul Raj Mayer | Mark Burdett Motorsport | 2.0 | 1:41.464 | 1:40.049 | 1:40.125 | 1:39.793 | No Time | 1:39.260 |
| 13 | Roy Geerts | AVF | 2.0 | 1:39.634 | 1:39.288 | No Time | 1:40.477 | 1:39.784 | 1:39.720 |
| 14 | Bartlomiej Mirecki | BM Racing Team | 2.0 | 1:45.666 | 1:42.800 | No Time | 1:40.752 | No Time | 1:39.631 |
| 15 | Alex Gill | Fortec Motorsport | 2.0 | 1:40.603 | 1:40.271 | 1:40.212 | No Time | 1:39.704 | No Time |
| 16 | Oliver Soderstrom | Fragus BR Motorsport | 2.0 | 1:42.463 | 1:40.829 | 1:39.729 | 1:39.962 | No Time | 1:39.731 |
| 17 | Pontus Fredricsson | Prizma Motorsport | 2.0 | 1:43.503 | 1:42.215 | 1:40.880 | 1:40.223 | 1:40.758 | 1:40.052 |
| 18 | Bruno Baptista | Koiranen GP | 2.0 | 1:41.157 | 1:40.515 | No Time | 1:40.230 | 1:40.493 | 1:40.073 |
| 19 | Matt Rao | Koiranen GP | 2.0 | 1:42.624 | 1:41.602 | 1:41.078 | 1:41.711 | 1:40.432 | 1:40.225 |
| 20 | Henrique Chaves | AVF | 2.0 | 1:42.666 | 1:41.814 | No Time | No Time | No Time | 1:42.762 |
| 21 | Ilmari Korpivaara | FinnDrive | 1.6 | 2:00.421 | 1:55.157 | 1:54.683 | No Time | 1:52.106 | 1:51.295 |
| 22 | Juuso Puhakka | FinnDrive | 1.6 | 2:00.005 | 1:53.928 | 1:51.706 | 1:51.363 | 1:51.552 | No Time |
Personal best time in bold
Best time of session in italics