Muller e Draco top the sheets in Belgium

Just five days after their amazing Monaco success, Draco Racing got back on track for the fourth round of the F.Renault 3.5 season. From the narrow streets of Monaco, the team traveled through Europe to reach another of the most fascinating circuits in the World, Spa-Francorchamps.

Despite that, things didn’t change much for Nico Muller, who closed his day at the top of the timesheet confirming the team’s potential. After a downpour that started very early in the morning, the first Free Practice session was held in wet conditions and both Muller and André Negrao focused on finding the best set-up solutions for the new-spec rain tyres supplied by Michelin.

In the afternoon the weather conditions improved enough for the racing line to dryout, and that allowed teams to fit their machinery with slick rubber. After carrying out some setup work, both drivers went for outright performance and Muller climbed to P1, posting a laptime that was 0.030 quicker than Kevin Magnussen’s.

Negrao, on the other car, closed the session in P10, a good performance consider that he was hampered by a sixth gear choice that proved to be too short for dry conditions. After such a good team performance, Guto Negrao and the whole staff are confident for tomorrow. Qualifying 1 will take place at 9.50 AM, while Race 1 will start at 2 PM.

Nico Muller (FP1 – P6; FP2 – P1): “It was a very good day for me, I was quick both in wet and dry conditions so I couldn’t ask for more. In the morning session I could have been even faster but I decided to use just one set of rain tyres, also because we needed to assess how wear affects this new-spec Michelins.

In the afternoon things were even better for me, even if managing the peak performance of a new tyre set isn’t easy on such a long track, you have just two laps to make the most of it. The team again deserves to be praised for the top-notch job they did, especially at mid-session when I had a little technical glitch. They immediately found it and solved it, allowing me to get back on track and do my best”.

André Negrao (FP1 – P12; FP2 – P10): “I’m quite happy with my day: in the wet I was quick even if I decided not to take too many risks, while in dry conditions I could have been quicker with a different setup choice. While the aero of my car was in middownforce configuration, I still had the geabox ratios for the wet, and those proved to be way too short.

I was hitting the limiter early both in the Raidilllon and in the last sector, and that costed me a lot of time. Taking that into account, I’d say that I’m confident for tomorrow”.

Draco Racing