Rossi leads first Silverstone session
Date published : 19 Aug 2011 - 13:28:53
American Alexander Rossi set the fastest time in the opening Formula Renault 3.5 collective test at Silverstone, as the championship resumed after its seven-week summer break."Usually the longest amount of time that I find myself out of a race car is in the off-season, so this big gap in the season was something new for me and so I am very excited to be back on track," said Rossi. "We came off of Budapest with good momentum and it will be really vital for us to carry this forward to Silverstone in search of our second win of the season."Championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne (Carlin) was 0.139 seconds behind Rossi's benchmark time of 1m47.192s in second.HRT Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo was third quickest for ISR, ahead of an excellent effort from series debutant Nick Yelloly at Pons Racing. The GP3 podium finisher is in the seat occupied by Spaniard Marcos Martinez at the Hungaroring.Ricciardo's ISR team-mate Nathanael Berthon was fifth. The Frenchman, who won a race at Magny-Cours in his rookie season last year, is looking for an upturn in fortune this weekend to progress from his 20th position in this year's points standings.On home soil, Comtec's Daniel McKenzie made it two Britons in the top six.Four points behind Vergne in the title fight, Robert Wickens was 19th this morning in the second Carlin entry.Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Alexander Rossi Fortec 1m47.192s 2. Jean-Eric Vergne Carlin 1m47.331s + 0.139s 3. Daniel Ricciardo ISR 1m47.499s + 0.307s 4. Nick Yelloly Pons 1m47.695s + 0.503s 5. Nathanael Berthon ISR 1m47.708s + 0.516s 6. Daniel McKenzie Comtec 1m47.787s + 0.595s 7. Albert Costa EPIC 1m47.908s + 0.716s 8. Fairuz Fauzy Mofaz 1m47.914s + 0.722s 9. Nelson Panciatici KMP 1m47.927s + 0.735s10. Daniel Zampieri BVM Target 1m47.956s + 0.764s11. Oliver Webb Pons 1m48.155s + 0.963s12. Arthur Pic Tech 1 1m48.209s + 1.017s13. Brendon Hartley Gravity-Charouz 1m48.279s + 1.087s14. Andre Negrao Draco 1m48.295s + 1.103s15. Jake Rosenzweig Mofaz 1m48.365s + 1.173s16. Walter Grubmuller P1 1m48.414s + 1.222s17. Jan Charouz Gravity-Charouz 1m48.423s + 1.231s18. Sten Pentus EPIC 1m48.503s + 1.311s19. Robert Wickens Carlin 1m48.560s + 1.368s20. Cesar Ramos Fortec 1m48.562s + 1.370s21. Kevin Korjus Tech 1 1m48.641s + 1.449s22. Daniil Move P1 1m48.735s + 1.543s23. Anton Nebylitskiy KMP 1m48.825s + 1.633s24. Stephane Richelmi Draco 1m49.205s + 2.013s25. Sergio Canamasas BVM Target 1m49.249s + 2.057s26. Daniel de Jong Comtec 1m49.750s + 2.558s
