Photo: Renault Sport Series
JD Motorsport’s Ugo de Wilde led the first Formula Renault Eurocup free practice session by 1.818 seconds at a damp Silverstone.
The Belgian, second in French Formula 4 last year, led the session at the halfway point when the track was still predominantly wet. As conditions improved times improved dramatically, with Oscar Piastri moving to the top.
His R-ace GP gambled on switching to slick tyres for the final 10 minutes, just after de Wilde moved back into first place. The three R-ace GP cars failed to beat his benchmark, not helped by de Wilde’s JD team-mate Joao Vieira causing a red flag.
The session resumed with just a few minutes on the clock, but de Wilde was able to improve by almost two seconds and dropped his best down to a 2m08.290s.
None of the other drivers near the top improved, with Bhaitech’s Federico Malvestiti the only other driver to set a representative personal best to move up to 10th.
Free Practice results
| Pos | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ugo de Wilde | JD Motorsport | 2m08.290s |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | R-ace GP | +1.818s |
| 3 | Alexander Smolyar | R-ace GP | +1.833s |
| 4 | Victor Martins | MP Motorsport | +1.901s |
| 5 | Lorenzo Colombo | MP Motorsport | +2.063s |
| 6 | Leonardo Lorandi | JD Motorsport | +2.462s |
| 7 | Caio Collet | R-ace GP | +2.580s |
| 8 | Xavier Llloveras | Global Racing Service | +3.467s |
| 9 | Callan O’Keeffe | FA Racing by Drivex | +3.650s |
| 10 | Federico Malvestiti | Bhaitech | +3.799s |
| 11 | Joao Vieira | JD Motorsport | +3.859s |
| 12 | Frank Bird | Arden | +3.864s |
| 13 | Patrick Schott | FA Racing by Drivex | +4.155s |
| 14 | Patrik Pasma | Arden | +4.325s |
| 15 | Petr Ptacek | Bhaitech | +4.342s |
| 16 | Yves Baltas | M2 Competition | +4.811s |
| 17 | Brad Benavides | FA Racing by Drivex | +5.200s |
| 18 | Amaury Cordeel | MP Motorsport | +5.812s |
| 19 | Lucas Alecco Roy | M2 Competition | +6.216s |
| 20 | Kush Maini | M2 Competition | +7.516s |