Sacha Fenestraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing) set the new lap record at Hungaroring with the time of 1:40.244 in the second practice session on Friday afternoon. The French driver dominates the first official weekend day ahead of Robert Shwartzman (R-ace GP) and Yifei Ye (Josef Kaufmann Racing).

Fenestraz was the fastest driver on Thursday as well even though Shwartzman took the lead in the middle of the day. Max Defourny (R-ace GP) and Will Palmer (R-ace GP) were also in the list of contenders for the first place in the rankings.

However, weather may bring some surprises on Saturday as the dark clouds approached Budapest on Friday evening as well.

PRACTICE 1 | PRACTICE 2

Sacha Fenestraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing): “After nearly a month break, it felt good to be back on the track! It was important to be well-prepared this weekend, even more so because some drivers raced in the Formula Renault NEC season-opener last week at Monza. The first results show we’ve done a good job and I hope it will be even more so when it counts tomorrow. It will be an interesting day depending on what the weather will have in store for us.”

Robert Shwartzman (R-ace GP): “We worked on set-up in the first session. It was a little difficult to get there with the heat, but we did it in the afternoon. In spite of a few errors on my part, it was much better. The goal tomorrow will be to get the pole positions. It could rain, but that doesn’t pose a problem for me. No matter what happens, the conditions will be the same for everyone and we’ll have to do our best.”

Yifei Ye (Josef Kaufmann Racing): “I raced here before during my first season in the Autosport Academy in 2015. With cars that are quite different and the resurfacing of the track since, it was a lot different. Since the three back-to-back meetings in May, I have worked a lot on my conditioning to get back in the fight for the title beginning in Hungary. The team gave me a good car to put me in the best possible conditions.”

Interviews from: Renault Sport