Martins tops Eurocup pre-event test at Nurburgring, Alders absent

Photo: Gregroy Lenormand / DPPI

The Formula Renault Eurocup held a single-day test ahead of its races at the Nurburgring this weekend, with ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins setting the pace.

Ex-Renault junior Martins laid down the pace in the first of two morning sessions, with bad weather meaning laptimes were some 15 seconds slower in the afternoon.

He was 0.374 seconds up on Arden’s Ugo de Wilde in that first session, with Martins’ team-mate Gregoire Saucy then splitting the two in the combined classification by going fastest in the second session and ending up going just 0.022s slower than Martins.

Paul Aron made it three ART cars in the top four, while Arden’s Alex Quinn rounded out the top five.

JD Motorsport’s William Alatalo was sixth, improving his laptime but not his position on the overall timesheet in session two, while MP Motorsport-run FA Racing by Manor driver Amaury Cordeel looked more competitive after failing to set a laptime in session one.

Bhaitech’s debutant Vicky Piria, who raced in W Series last year, was the slowest driver and 3.906s off the pace.

Absent from the test and this weekend’s races is Joey Alders, whose budget to stay on at MP Motorsport after the first two rounds was results dependant, and Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award winner Johnathan Hoggard who raced at Imola for R-ace GP.

Test results