Formula Renault 3.5 – Zeta Corse welcomes Mavlanov in Day 2 of A lcaniz testing

After tackling the first day of the Alcaniz collective test with Nigel Melker and Roberto Merhi, Zeta Corse changed their line-up for Day 2. While the Spanish former DTM star remained behind the wheel of the #21 Michelin-shod Dallara, the sister car was handed over to Roman Mavlanov, who had already tested with the team last year, both in Barcelona and Alcaniz. Quick laptimes not being the focus of such a pre-season test, the team focused on the task of bringing both drivers up to speed: on one side Merhi kept working with the technical staff to find back his single-seater feeling after two seasons in Touringcar racing, while on the other hand 19 year-old Mavlanov had to get back into the pace after a long winter break. The young Russian’s day was hampered by a few technical glitches too, but the team is working to sort those out and give Roman a perfect car for tomorrow’s sessions. Roman Mavlanov: S1 – P23; S2 – P20 “I was happy to be back in the car after such a long break, but I obviously knew that getting up to speed would have required some time. In that regard, wasting half of the morning session due to the wet track sure didn’t help, and my day wasn’t made easier by the fuel pump issue I experienced in the afternoon. Anyway, I still managed to clock a good amount of laps and that bodes well for tomorrow”. Roberto Merhi: S1 – P20; S2 – P19 “I can’t be happy with today’s performance, but when I decided to come to this test I knew that I was accepting a big challenge after two full seasons without driving a single-seater. Finding the pace requires time, and finding the right setup to suit my style is a long process too, so I need to be patient, nothing more than that”.