Charles Pic set the pace on the opening day of testing for the latest World Series by Renault round at the Hungaroring as he looks to get his title challenge back on track.
One of the few circuits on the calendar he has visited before, Monaco winner Pic lost considerable ground to Giedo van der Garde last time out at Silverstone when he failed to score in either race.
Nonetheless, the teenage Frenchman was straight back in form as he swept to the fastest time in the second session of the day, marginally ahead of Silverstone winner Robert Wickens.
The Canadian had led for much of the session before being usurped by Pic by a mere 0.021secs, although he remained more than half a second faster than Alvaro Barba in the best of the Prema cars.
After his impressive debut outing at
Silverstone, Esteban Guerrieri maintained his good form with Ultimate Signature with the fourth best time, ahead of Julien Jousse and Silverstone top scorer Salvador Duran.
Championship leader van der Garde held a rather anonymous seventh as he seeks to record his fifth consecutive front row starting position, while Miguel Molina slipped to eighth having set the pace in the opening session. Fabio Carbone and Marco Barba rounded out the top ten positions.
Elsewhere, Aleix Alcaraz made a solid debut for Pons Racing in place of Maximo Cortes with the 13th best time, while former Ultimate driver Claudio Cantelli – who replaces Alcaraz at RC Motorsport – was 22nd best.
Meanwhile, Guillaume Moreau's KTR team have a job on their hands to repair the Frenchman's car after a heavy crash that also prompted a small fire. The sometime Le Mans racer was unharmed and, despite missing the rest of the day, is expected to race this weekend.
![Charles Pic - Tech 1 Racing [pic credit: Renault Sport Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/443619.jpg)
