Sacha Fenestraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing) took three pole-positions in a row at Spa-Francorchamps circuit on Friday. The Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 leader will start all three races of this big weekend from P1. Robert Shwartzman (R-ace GP) was his closest rival throughout the sessions. The Russian led his qualifying group both times and collected two front-row seats and one 4th place due to his 2nd fastest lap in Q1 was a bit slower than Gabriel Aubry (Tech 1 Racing).

Yifei Ye and Max Defourny took 2nd row for race 1 which makes it R-ace GP vs. Josef Kaufmann Racing battle into the first corner.

Race 1: Saturday 9:10
Race 2: Saturday 15:00
Race 3: Sunday 10:30

LIVE TIMING

LIVE STREAM

TESTS | QUALIFYING 1 | QUALIFYING 2

Sacha Fenestraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing): “It was an excellent Friday; only the best time in practice was missing to make it a perfect day! It was complicated this morning and we were focused on the points… We ended up with the three poles, without even having to use the draft. It’s great and I wasn’t expecting it at all! I am keeping the importance of being on pole at Spa in perspective. I saw that only 27% of pole winners have gone on to win since 2000. This year we might have a small advantage because we will start from the pit straight. The goal will be to aim for the podium.”

Robert Shwartzman (R-ace GP): “After my horrible weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard, the race for the title has become more difficult and now I have nearly nothing to lose. In starting second twice, I have a good shot to win. I will be aggressive and will take my chance. With three races on the programme, I have time to analyse and choose the best places to overtake. Today, our Q1 was a little disappointing, but I believe our race pace is once again better than that of Josef Kaufmann Racing. We have to see how it goes at turn one and who survives.”

Gabriel Aubry (Tech 1 Racing): “The day got off to a good start. I was confident straight away where usually it takes me some time to get on pace. We could’ve done better in qualifying, but we didn’t quite manage to get the right tyre temperature. We didn’t get the result we had hoped for, but we came up just 0.02s short of the best time in the group in Q2. There should be some terrific races. Nothing is over just yet and I know that we have the potential to win. It will be our only goal tomorrow.”

Yifei Ye (Josef Kaufmann Racing): “This morning, our rhythm was similar to that which saw me finish on the podium at Paul Ricard. This momentum continued in Q1 with the second best time of my group on the two best laps. I was full of confidence, but a tyre issue suddenly stopped my progression in Q2. I am not at all worried for the races tomorrow. I will try to get good starts and pass the drivers ahead of me to significantly reduce the gap to the best rookies in the general classification.”

Original interviews: Renault Sport