Friday’s Free Practice sessions took place in wet conditions. The drivers had a 40 minute session to learn the street circuit. Dan Ticktum took the top of the timing sheets early on in the session, before the session was stopped following a car that made contact with the wall. Rookie Zane Goddard was third fastest in the first session, only 0.704 seconds off the top spot with a lap time of 1:23.555. Ticktum completed the first session in 12th with a 1:25.004, and Ghislain Cordeel in 22nd with a 1:26.575.
The second session was split into the two qualifying groups, each group having 18 minutes of track time. Group A was first out on track, Ticktum posted a lap time of 1:14.958, with a gap from the leader of only 0.823 seconds.
After making contact with the wall, the session came to a halt for Group B to remove the young Australian’s car from the circuit. Goddard’s fastest lap time was deleted due to causing a red flag. Cordeel completed the session in 8th, setting a lap time of 1:15.207.
A light sprinkling started just minutes before Saturday’s Qualifying sessions was about to get underway. First out was Ticktum in Group A, and not allowing the slight wet track to hinder – Ticktum set out on slicks. Despite only being 0.275 seconds off the top spot, Ticktum took the chequered flag at the end of the session in 5th with a 1:13.929.
Next out was Group B, Goddard and Cordeel took the wet streets hungry to improve on the times from Friday. Cordeel finished the session in 9th, 1:14.624. Goddard took the flag in 11th with a 1:15.284.
The sunshine finally returned in time for the first Race of the weekend. Lining up on the grid for the 25 minute plus one lap race – Ticktum in 10th, Cordeel in 17th, and Goddard in 21st. An extra formation lap was needed due to difficulties for one car on the grid. Making an impressive start, Ticktum was on the tail of the front pack.
Cordeel got caught out on lap 10, making contact with the wall and ending his race. Goddard finished in 19th.
Sunday’s qualifying session began under bright blue skies and rising temperatures as Group A joined the track. Showing incredible pace and sitting in 5th, Ticktum’s qualifying session ended prematurely as he made contact with the wall on his fast lap. Due to causing a red flag, his fastest lap time was deleted and demoted him to 10th in group with a 1:13.890 – 0.989 seconds off first. Group B headed out for their final qualifying session of the weekend. Goddard took the chequered flag in 9th, 1.229 seconds off the top spot, and Cordeel completed the session in 14th with a 1:14.699.
Lining up on the grid for the second and final race saw Goddard in 17th, Ticktum in 20th, and Cordeel 27th. As the lights went out, the Belgian Cordeel made incredible progress, craving his way through the pack in front of him. With only 3 laps to go until the chequered flag, Ticktum tagged a kerb and slid into the barriers, causing his race to come to an early end. Goddard took the flag in 15th, and Cordeel in 18th.
Dan Ticktum “The pace was there but unfortunately I made a few mistakes – this place doesn’t let you get away with the smallest of mistakes. We’re going to take the positives as we head to Monaco and hopefully get results.”
Ghislain Cordeel “I really enjoyed racing at Pau this weekend. Although I made a small mistake, it was great to race around the iconic street circuit. The next round is Monaco, so we are going to take all the positives from this weekend to hopefully get some good results!”
Zane Goddard “Really enjoyable weekend! Racing around a street circuit again was great fun. We’ve learnt a lot coming into Monaco this weekend, so we’re hoping for some good results to come.”
The team now head to Monaco for Round 4 of the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Championship on 25th – 28th May, which will see practice take place on Thursday, Qualifying on Friday, Race 1 on Saturday and Race 2 on Sunday.