Robin Frijns tops Renault 3.5 testing, new car as fast as GP2

UPDATE

Robin Frijns

Doing a little research on Frijns, in 3 years of motorsport he already has 2 MAJOR championships:

2010 – Formula BMW Europe Champion
2011 – Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Champion

2012 – Already during the first few Formula Renault 3.5 tests on top … again ! Definitely one to watch !

Note: No Red Bull, no Marussia, no Air Asia, no Gravity, no Lotus no whatever else backing … just 'Frijns Industrial Group' (http://www.frijnsindustrialgroup.com/), the family company backing him … thus free of politics.

03/15/12 The new Formula Renault 3.5 car (also known as the World Series by Renault) is over 4 seconds per lap faster than the car it replaces and buts it on par with GP2 cars, perhaps even faster..

Wednesday Testing

Robin Frijns

Robin Frijns kept Fortec at the top of the timesheets on the second day of pre-season testing for the new Formula Renault 3.5 car at Paul Ricard.

The reigning Formula Renault Eurocup champion shaved more than one second off his pacesetting best on the opening day to post a 1m45.667s.

That was just enough to edge out Tech 1's Jules Bianchi, who got to within two thousandths of Frijns's benchmark in the afternoon.

The Dutchman's best time is more than four seconds faster than the lap record in the old Formula Renault 3.5 car, a 1m49.901s set by 2011 champion Robert Wickens.

Wednesday Times

Tuesday Testing

Reigning Formula Renault Eurocup champion Robin Frijns set the fastest time on the first day of pre-season testing for the new Formula Renault 3.5 car at Paul Ricard on Tuesday.

The Fortec Motorsports driver snatched the top spot away from the more experienced Alexander Rossi and Jules Bianchi in the closing stages of the day, with fellow rookie Richie Stanaway (Lotus/Gravity-Charouz) joining him at the top just before the end.

F1 test drivers Bianchi and Rossi ended the day third and fourth for Tech 1 and Arden respectively, while Carlos Huertas was another rookie to shine as he put the second Fortec car in the top five.

Tuesday Times