A little over 24 hours after having to sit out the opening session of the latest World Series by Renault group test when his Ultimate Signature car caught light, Fabio Carbone set a scorching pace to top day two at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The day got off to a gentle start as overnight rain produced a wet track, with everyone waiting until the afternoon session to put on new tyres and go after good lap times. The conditions did not prevent running entirely, however, although Epsilon Euskadi's Mario Romancini probably wished that he hadn't ventured out after crash heavily and seriously damaging his car in the process.
Although drivers had little choice but to use wet-weather tyres for a large part of the morning, the pace gradually improved, enabling the fastest time to drop several times before the lunch break. Carbone, Romancini's team-mate Alexandre Marsoin, Prema duo Alvaro Barba and Miguel Molina, Draco's Bertrand Baguette, series returnee Borja Garcia, Interwetten's Salvador Duran, Pons pairing Marcos Martinez and Maximo Cortes, Carbone's team-mate Claudio Cantelli and day one pacesetter Giedo van der Garde all took turns to hold top spot as each lap seemed to produce a better mark.
Barba was the first to opt for slick tyres, a move that produced immediate results. With a lap of 1min 37.776secs, the Spaniard went more than five seconds quicker than everyone else - who promptly followed suit. Once again, the lead changed hands several times, with the action only interspersed with interruptions to the session due to a few minor incidents and crashes.
With a lap timed at 1min 34.958secs, van de Garde ended the morning session with the best time, despite going off on his last flying lap - an incident which brought the session to a close. Marco Barba assumed second spot, ahead of Martinez and Carlin's Robert Wickens.
