From Renault Sport
Robert Wickens was recently confirmed as Marussia Virgin Racing’s Formula One reserve driver, and he will no doubt have made a good impression on his new employers with his performance at the Nürburgring today.
The Canadian came out on top of both collective testing sessions, finishing ahead of Alexander Rossi (Fortec Motorsports), Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne (Carlin). With 12 cars finishing in the same second, it looks set to be a very open weekend of racing.
All day long, the lead changed hands at a fast pace, with Fairuz Fauzy, Robert Wickens, Nathanaël Berthon (ISR) and Jake Rosenzweig (Mofaz Racing) all occupying top spot at some stage of the proceedings. Rosenzweig went first with a time of 1:48.188, before losing his position to fellow American Alexander Rossi, who clocked an impressive 1:47.128.
Arthur Pic went off the track half-way through the session, and the subsequent red flag halted the field’s momentum.
Robert Wickens and Daniel Ricciardo quickly got back into the groove after the restart, but Wickens took the upper hand over his Australian rival with a lap of 1:46.928. Albert Costa then muscled in on the action with a time of 1:46.113, but Wickens wrestled back the advantage by clocking a lap of 1:45.530. The session finally came to an end after BVM Target driver Sergio Canamasas went crashing out.
The early stages of the afternoon session belonged to Ricciardo, and the Australian led with a time of 1:45.940 ahead of Daniel Zampieri and Nelson Panciatici.
However, things were soon to change, and Wickens pulled a lap of 1:45.433 out of the bag to finish with the quickest time of the day. That was not the end of it for Ricciardo, however, as he lost second spot to Rossi right at the death. Jean-Eric Vergne and Brendon Hartley (both Gravity-Charouz) rounded off the top five.
“I’ve been working long and hard to get to Formula One. Becoming Marussia Virgin Racing’s reserve driver is just the first step. It doesn’t change my season objectives in the slightest – quite the opposite in fact,” said Robert Wickens.
“I want to win the championship and show everyone who’s supported me that I deserve their confidence. There is still work to be done, but I felt good in the Carlin right from my very first laps,” the Canadian added.
Robert Wickens was recently confirmed as Marussia Virgin Racing’s Formula One reserve driver, and he will no doubt have made a good impression on his new employers with his performance at the Nürburgring today.
The Canadian came out on top of both collective testing sessions, finishing ahead of Alexander Rossi (Fortec Motorsports), Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne (Carlin). With 12 cars finishing in the same second, it looks set to be a very open weekend of racing.
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| Robert Wickens at the Canadian Grand Prix (Photo: Rene Fagnan/Auto123.com) |
All day long, the lead changed hands at a fast pace, with Fairuz Fauzy, Robert Wickens, Nathanaël Berthon (ISR) and Jake Rosenzweig (Mofaz Racing) all occupying top spot at some stage of the proceedings. Rosenzweig went first with a time of 1:48.188, before losing his position to fellow American Alexander Rossi, who clocked an impressive 1:47.128.
Arthur Pic went off the track half-way through the session, and the subsequent red flag halted the field’s momentum.
Robert Wickens and Daniel Ricciardo quickly got back into the groove after the restart, but Wickens took the upper hand over his Australian rival with a lap of 1:46.928. Albert Costa then muscled in on the action with a time of 1:46.113, but Wickens wrestled back the advantage by clocking a lap of 1:45.530. The session finally came to an end after BVM Target driver Sergio Canamasas went crashing out.
The early stages of the afternoon session belonged to Ricciardo, and the Australian led with a time of 1:45.940 ahead of Daniel Zampieri and Nelson Panciatici.
However, things were soon to change, and Wickens pulled a lap of 1:45.433 out of the bag to finish with the quickest time of the day. That was not the end of it for Ricciardo, however, as he lost second spot to Rossi right at the death. Jean-Eric Vergne and Brendon Hartley (both Gravity-Charouz) rounded off the top five.
“I’ve been working long and hard to get to Formula One. Becoming Marussia Virgin Racing’s reserve driver is just the first step. It doesn’t change my season objectives in the slightest – quite the opposite in fact,” said Robert Wickens.
“I want to win the championship and show everyone who’s supported me that I deserve their confidence. There is still work to be done, but I felt good in the Carlin right from my very first laps,” the Canadian added.