World Series Renault 3.5 Season 2007

[Obizzz]

Van Lagen seems full of self confidence :P

[Alex K]

You do not know how many laps he did, and what wasx his problems , if any. I read Jonathan's answer to van Lagen's poor performance I am surprised van Lagen came back to his team?

[J.R]

Originally Posted by Alex K

You do not know how many laps he did, and what wasx his problems , if any. I read Jonathan's answer to van Lagen's poor performance I am surprised van Lagen came back to his team?

He did only 2 laps until he crashed really bad apparently. Still, as you can see Comtec is having problems... Only Nunez was able to do top-ten even top-five at Barcelona and Nurburgring with one good performance of Van Lagen too with a 4th place.... I think it´s not Van Lagen to blame in my humble opinion

[J.R]

The rest is obviously very poor... the Monza meeting was really bad for Comtec, they never really found the set-up and that added to bad luck made them unable to go in top-ten, and they need to be there at least.

[WSR Fan]

I've been very impressed with Alvaro Barba's testing form over the past few months. He's topped 4 of the 11 test days we've had since the end of the 2006 season and has been there or thereabouts in most of the others. As they've proved over the past two seasons', Draco are a top team, and despite his bad start at Monza, I have high hopes for him this year.

Vettel doesn't seem quite up to speed yet for whatever reason, and once again, Charlie Kimball puts in another under-par performance (compared to what I was expecting from him).

On a separate note, according to crash.net, Estoril looks like being the replacement for the cancelled Istanbul round. The provisional date is 20/21 October, which is a week before the season finale in Barcelona. This will mean, however, a seven week break between the Monaco and Hungaroring rounds

[Mekola]

Looks like that Risatti has a good adaption to the car...

[hotwheels]

Originally Posted by Mekola

Looks like that Risatti has a good adaption to the car...

Yes, he is. And he should, if you consider his ex-mates from Spanish F3 also did pretty well when testing WSR (i.e Molina, Jimenez). And we should always remember Soucek's season last year, which gives me the impression Risatti can do great, once GD manages to give him a good car.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by strider

Don't forget that Roly Vincini is now with Cram, not Comtec.

Is this maybe the reason why Comtec lost their pace? I can't believe Van Lagen has lost his talent.

Originally Posted by hotwheels

if they are able to fire a driver shouldn't this mean they got sponsorship on their own? In this case I think they could choose whoever they want to.

Their main sponsors are Red Devil and Orient Shipping.

BTW Both companies are from Holland....is this the reason Van Lagen is still in the car?

[WSR Fan]

Thursday Testing - Morning Times:

1 - Alvaro Parente - Tech 1 - 1'25"065 - 22 Laps
2 - Alvaro Barba - Draco - 1'25"399 - 30
3 - Mikhail Aleshin - Carlin - 1'25"427 - 26
4 - Milos Pavlovic - Draco - 1'25"458 - 27
5 - Julien Jousse - Tech 1 - 1'25"634 - 27
6 - Marco Bonanomi - RC - 1'25"689 - 39
7 - Bertrand Baguette - KTR - 1'25"708 - 21
8 - Clivio Piccione - RC - 1'25"746 - 42
9 - Alejandro Nunez - Comtec - 1'25"949 - 34
10 - Charlie Kimball - Victory - 1'25"955 - 28
11 - Giedo Van der Garde - Victory - 1'25"997 - 19
12 - Ricardo Risatti - GD - 1'26"005 - 30
13 - Miguel Molina - Pons - 1'26"005 - 44
14 - Davide Valsecchi - Epsilon - 1'26"038 - 32
15 - Ben Hanley - Prema - 1'26"084 - 39
16 - Pasquale Di Sabatino - GD - 1'26"090 - 40
17 - Jaap Van Lagen - Comtec - 1'26"118 - 39
18 - Carlos Iaconelli - Pons - 1'26"125 - 42
19 - James Walker - Fortec - 1'26"206 - 34
20 - Salvador Duran - Interwetten - 1'26"206 - 34
21 - Xavier Maassen - Prema - 1'26"592 - 61
22 - Fairuz Fauzy - Cram - 1'26"613 - 23
23 - Guillaume Moreau - KTR - 1'26"811 - 9
24 - Celso Miguez - Eurointernational - 1'26"824 - 27
25 - Filipe Albuquerque - Epsilon - 1'26"933 - 16
26 - Pippa Mann - Cram - 1'27"045 - 38
27 - Alessandro Ciompi - Eurointernational - 1'27"116 - 24
28 - Daniil Move - Interwetten - 1'27"133 - 24
29 - Andy Soucek - Interwetten - 1'27"717 - 28
30 - Sebastian Vettel - Carlin - No Time

Interesting to see Interwetten.com fielding their former driver Andy Soucek. From what I've read, Soucek has hit budget problems at DPR in GP2 and could make a return to the World Series in place of Daniil Move. And in light of Move's early season form, that wouldn't be a bad idea IMO.

[OJB]

I've heard he has hit budget problems in GP2 too and you can't say DPR look all that impressive at the moment either. Then again, I'd imagine Soucek would need to bring some good money to Interwetten as well, so maybe he is just there for developmental reasons.

Parente fastest again - Tech 1 have certainly pulled a shrewd move there if he can carry this pace for the rest of the season.

[Francis Albert]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Their main sponsors are Red Devil and Orient Shipping.

BTW Both companies are from Holland....is this the reason Van Lagen is still in the car?

I thought Red Devil was from Finland actually, but I could be wrong.

[WSR Fan]

Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time this afternoon (and the fastest of the whole test) with a 1:24.541, which is just 0.6s off of the GP2 Pole Position time from last year. Pretty impressive stuff IMO

Thursday Testing - Afternoon Times:

1. Sebastian Vettel (Carlin) 1:24.541, 33 Laps
2. Miguel Molina (Pons) 1:24.625, 26
3. Alvaro Parente (Tech 1) 1:24.819, 24
4. Filipe Albuquerque (Epsilon Euskadi) 1:24.877, 36
5. Giedo van der Garde (Victory) 1:25.002, 23
6. Salvador Duran (Interwetten.com) 1:25.008, 23
7. Ricardo Risatti (GD Racing) 1:25.147, 40
8. Ben Hanley (Prema) 1:25.183, 48
9. Mikhail Aleshin (Carlin) 1:25.288, 25
10. Davide Valsecchi (Epsilon Euskadi) 1:25.321, 42
11. Guillaume Moreau (KTR) 1:25.359, 21
12. James Walker (Fortec) 1:25.412, 54
13. Marco Bonanomi (RC Motorsport) 1:25.425, 34
14. Julien Jousse (Tech 1) 1:25.446, 24
15. Bertrand Baguette (KTR) 1:25.586, 33
16. Pasquale di Sabatino (GD Racing) 1:25.715, 41
17. Charlie Kimball (Victory) 1:25.837, 30
18. Carlos Iaconelli (Pons) 1:25.968, 26
19. Jaap Van Lagen (Comtec) 1:26.195, 41
20. Daniil Move (Interwetten.com) 1:26.195, 24
21. Clivio Piccione (RC Motorsport) 1:26.223, 10
22. Alejandro Nunez (Comtec) 1:26.229, 10
23. Milos Pavlovic (Draco) 1:26.388, 11
24. Alessandro Ciompi (Eurointernational) 1:26.407, 31
25. Andy Soucek (Interwetten.com) 1:26.699, 25
26. Alvaro Barba (Draco) 1:26.757, 6
27. Celso Miguez (Eurointernational) 1:27.262, 12
28. Xavier Maassen (Prema) 1:27.294, 33
29. Pippa Mann (Cram) 1:27.367, 10
30. Fairuz Fauzy (Cram) No Time, 4

[hotwheels]

Originally Posted by Francis Albert

I thought Red Devil was from Finland actually, but I could be wrong.

Yes, Finland, AFAIK.

[OJB]

I always thought they were Dutch too - maybe their parent company is Finnish. I'm sure I read they were Dutch on the press release Comtec sent when the sponsor was launched. Ah well, its not especially important.

Either way, I think Van Lagen runs with his own sponsorship so I don't know whether Red Devil would have a say on his role in the team as such. We'll see how long Van Lagen lasts, although I think he is better than he has shown.

The driver merry-go-round hasn't started just yet then...

[META4]

maybe they are sponsored by the dutch branch.....www.reddevil.nl

[pimbopap]

[QUOTE=WSR Fan]Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time this afternoon (and the fastest of the whole test) with a 1:24.541, which is just 0.6s off of the GP2 Pole Position time from last year. Pretty impressive stuff IMO

They were so fast because most of the track has been resurfaced and appears to have a lot more grip....

[WSR Fan]

I FINALLY got to see some WSR action from Monza on TV today (on World Motor Sport) and all the race reports I'd read describing Race 1 as 'wacky' were right - accidents, mistakes, tyre blow-ups, safety cars, a first time winner, it had the lot!

The Fauzy/Bonanomi battle was really exciting to watch, although I think Fauzy's spin on the last lap was a bit unnecessary - if he had any push-to-pass left he should have waited a bit and got Marco on the back-straight, not going into Curva Grande. Felt quite sorry for Baguette, he was really putting pressure on the Top 3 before his tyre gave way.

I know we've had two races already, but anybody fancy a little prediction for the Top 10 in the championship? I'm usually rubbish at predictions, but I'm quite confident with this selection


1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Mikhail Aleshin
3. Alvaro Parente
4. Alvaro Barba
5. Salvador Duran
6. Giedo van der Garde
7. Milos Pavlovic
8. Marco Bonanomi
9. Clivio Piccione
10. Filipe Albuquerque

[OJB]

I'll join in - and for a bonus how about who gets replaced first in the famous WSR musical chairs...?

1 - Mikhail Aleshin
2 - Alvaro Parente
3 - Sebastien Vettel
4 - Milos Pavlovic
5 - Clivio Piccione
6 - Giedo van der Garde
7 - Marco Bonanomi
8 - Alvaro Barba
9 - Fairuz Fauzy
10 - Ben Hanley

Replaced first - Xavier Maassen

[WSR Fan]

BTW, let's hope whoever wins the title this year wins it fairly on the track, not three months later in a Paris courtroom..

Originally Posted by OJB

Replaced first - Xavier Maassen

I think I agree with you there - he hasn't looked good at all. He certainly hasn't made the smooth transition from the Formula Renault Eurocup that Baguette and Albuquerque seem to have done. And when it comes to Monaco and the 26-car grid limit, I think he will be one of the four drivers with a big fat 'DNQ' by his name. That's if he reaches Monaco that is!

[OJB]

Don't know how much money he brings to the team but he seems a bit rooted to the bottom of the timesheets - its a toss up between him, Move and Ciompi i reckon. Ciompi just for the mere fact he is driving for Eurointernational

[Daisy]

Originally Posted by WSR Fan

I think I agree with you there - he hasn't looked good at all. He certainly hasn't made the smooth transition from the Formula Renault Eurocup that Baguette and Albuquerque seem to have done. And when it comes to Monaco and the 26-car grid limit, I think he will be one of the four drivers with a big fat 'DNQ' by his name. That's if he reaches Monaco that is!

I don't think Xavier will be the one to be replaced first. I agree he's one of the weaker links on the grid, and I'd rather see a Sean McIntosh or Eric Salignon in his place, but he has good backing and I don't think Prema want's to loose that.

[Sev]

Hmm, predictions time. That sounds hard

I'm pretty confident about #1 though.

1. Parente
2. Vettel
3. Aleshin
4. Albuquerque
5. Hanley
6. Pavlovic
7. Kimball
8. Duran
9. Van der Garde
10. Bonanomi

[Daisy]

I forgot mine

1. Vettel
2. Parente
3. Aleshin
4. Hanley
5. Van Der Garde
6. Molina
7. Duran
8. Pavlovic
9. Barba
10. Albuquerque

But it will be close.

[J.R]

I´ve heard Van Lagen won´t be at the Nurburgring and Michael Herck will be taking his place at least for the Nurburgrin meeting... strange situation!

[OJB]

Herck is in for Comtec and Buurman is racing for Fortec this weekend by the looks of it. Duran quickest