Photo: Renault Sport Series
Victor Martins set the pace in Formula Renault Eurocup’s two free practice sessions at Barcelona, where he has been poleman for the last three series races at the circuit.
The Frenchman took pole for the 2018 season finale at the circuit, then dominated the Barcelona round last year. On Thursday he topped the pre-event test, and brought the fastest lap down by 0.627 seconds on Friday with a 1m42.235s lap.
Every driver set their best free practice in the morning session, with ART Grand Prix driver and points leader Martins leading main title rival Caio Collet (R-ace GP) by 0.353s.
A tenth of a second then covered third to sixth, with Martins’ team-mate Gregoire Saucy ahead of FA Racing by Manor’s Tijmen van der Helm, JD Motorsport’s David Vidales and Arden’s Ugo de Wilde.
Vidales emerged as Martins’ closest threat in FP2, but without improving on his morning time he still ended up fifth in the combined classification of the day.
The top 14 cars were covered by a second, with that group including MP Motorsport’s debutant and Spanish Formula 4 leader Kas Haverkort.
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | 1m42.235s | 39 | |
| 2 | Caio Collet | R-ace GP | 1m42.588s | +0.353s | 39 |
| 3 | Gregoire Saucy | ART Grand Prix | 1m42.637s | +0.402s | 41 |
| 4 | Tijmen van der Helm | FA Racing by Manor | 1m42.692s | +0.457s | 41 |
| 5 | David Vidales | JD Motorsport | 1m42.714s | +0.479s | 42 |
| 6 | Ugo de Wilde | Arden | 1m42.719s | +0.484s | 44 |
| 7 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 1m42.757s | +0.522s | 43 |
| 8 | Alex Quinn | Arden | 1m42.770s | +0.535s | 37 |
| 9 | Amaury Cordeel | FA Racing by Manor | 1m42.787s | +0.552s | 43 |
| 10 | Paul Aron | ART Grand Prix | 1m42.909s | +0.674s | 41 |
| 11 | Lorenzo Colombo | Bhaitech | 1m42.934s | +0.699s | 36 |
| 12 | William Alatalo | JD Motorsport | 1m42.956s | +0.721s | 42 |
| 13 | Hadrien David | MP Motorsport | 1m43.004s | +0.769s | 44 |
| 14 | Kas Haverkort | MP Motorsport | 1m43.211s | +0.976s | 44 |
| 15 | Reshad de Gerus | Arden | 1m43.690s | +1.455s | 40 |
| 16 | Laszlo Toth | Bhaitech | 1m43.898s | +1.663s | 33 |
| 17 | Petr Ptacek | R-ace GP | 1m44.118s | +1.883s | 40 |
| 18 | Nicola Marinangeli | Bhaitech | 1m44.624s | +2.389s | 42 |