Robert Shwartzman (R-ace GP) took his fifth pole position of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 2017 season. After summer break the Russian driver sets the pace in second qualifying group with more than 7 tenths of a second advantage.

The Eurocup leader Sacha Fenestraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing) takes P2 after being the fastest man on track in the first practice session. Fenestraz leads the championship by 27 points over Shwartzman which makes him feel comfortable at Paul Ricard.

Gabriel Aubry (Tech 1 Racing) and Max Defourny (R-ace GP) will start the Sunday race from the second row of the grid. Daniel Ticktum (Arden Motorsport) and another championship contender Will Palmer (R-ace GP) will be at row 3.

Race 1 starts at 15:00 CET on Saturday while the drivers also get ready for the second qualifying session at 11:10 to determine starting grid for the Saturday race.

PRACTICE 1 | PRACTICE 2 | QUALIFYING 1

Robert Shwartzman (R-ace GP): “It is always good to be on pole, even if this one was quite easy to get! Right from the collective tests, I pushed to show our pace. The team did a great job and everything went the way we wanted it to! To take the pole with by 7/10ths of a second is excellent. We’ve found good speed in these hot conditions. Tomorrow, I will give it my all again in qualifying. I think I have chance to get a second pole this weekend, which would be the first time this season!”

Sacha Fenestraz (Josef Kaufmann Racing): “Contrary to what I expected, the morning session on the return to action was very good with the best time of the first session. In the afternoon, I didn’t progress as much as my rivals. That said there was nothing surprising as I expect to battle with Robert Shwartzman and Will Palmer until the end of the season. I could’ve done better in qualifying had I not made a small mistake at turn one and tyre degradation is very important here. I also knew that the track would improve later. I hope the advantage will turn in our favour in Q2!”

Gabriel Aubry (Tech 1 Racing): “It was a difficult day. This morning, we were quite far off the pace of the R-ace GP and Josef Kaufmann Racing guys, but we managed to limit the damage in qualifying. We have a lot of work to do tonight to close the gap to the leaders. We will have to gain ground tomorrow and I want to score as many points as I can to solidify fourth place in the general classification. It will be very hard to get back in title contention, but the podium in the championship is the minimum goal.”

Daniel Ticktum (Arden Motorsport): “Our pre-season tests at Circuit Paul Ricard were bad. We were quite slow in dry conditions and we tried to understand why in order to improve. Alas, this morning began the same way and it was difficult to know where we were with just one set of tyres, especially on a track that is hard on the tyres. In the afternoon, I was in traffic on my first two laps on new tyres. We were a little worried, but things were much better after a few changes to solve an instability issue at turn entry. There is more work to do, but I was able to attack and pick up time. We can still go quicker to catch the experienced drivers, but I have to be realistic. I don’t think we have the pace this weekend to race for the win. To finish in the top five will be a good result.”

Interviews from: Renault Sport