Home Formula 3Euroformula Ye fastest in Euroformula FP2 as track limits issue continues

Ye fastest in Euroformula FP2 as track limits issue continues

by Ida Wood

Yifei Ye had to overcome laps being deleted for track limit violations for the second session in a row in Euroformula free practice two at the Red Bull Ring.

The Chinese driver was a top culprit for using up all of the track and more out of the final corner, resulting in several of the laps that would have put him in first place at various points in FP2 being deleted.

His session also wasn’t straightforward as he had an electrical issue related to his steering that required him to spend some time in the pits while engineers worked on the car [pictured above].

As in FP1, an earlier benchmark was enough to keep him in first place until he hooked together a lap that stayed within the white lines the whole way around. Across the grid, 15 laptimes were deleted for track limits-related reasons.

His 1m23.385s lap that stood as the session’s best was 0.222 seconds faster then Zane Maloney’s best in second place, and the Carlin driver once again looked like the only driver who could rival Ye.

Sebastian Estner was the top Van Amersfoort Racing driver in third, with Motopark’s Manuel Maldonado doing a good job in fourth and was only 0.170s off second place.

Ayrton Simmons put the sole Double R Racing entry in fifth, ahead of the improving Alexandre Bardinon (VAR), Ido Cohen (Carlin), Niklas Krutten (Motopark) and Andreas Estner (VAR).

After technical issues ruled him out of FP1, Shihab Al Habsi was on track in FP2 for Drivex School and outpaced his team-mate Glenn van Berlo.

 

Free practice results
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Yifei Ye CryptoTower 1m23.385s 21
2 Zane Maloney Carlin 1m23.607s +0.222s 21
3 Sebastian Estner Van Amersfoort Racing 1m23.770s +0.385s 18
4 Manuel Maldonado Motopark 1m23.777s +0.392s 20
5 Ayrton Simmons Double R Racing 1m23.929s +0.544s 23
6 Alexandre Bardinon Van Amersfoort Racing 1m23.952s +0.567s 22
7 Ido Cohen Carlin 1m23.974s +0.589s 20
8 Niklas Krutten Motopark 1m24.232s +0.847s 19
9 Andreas Estner Van Amersfoort Racing 1m24.343s +0.958s 25
10 Rui Andrade CryptoTower 1m24.757s +1.372s 24
11 Shihab Al Habsi Drivex School 1m24.880s +1.495s 25
12 Glenn van Berlo Drivex School 1m25.029s +1.644s 24