Carlin’s Colton Herta has made sure to put himself a fantastic position ahead of the second race of the EuroFormula Championship weekend at Paul Ricard. Following a tough race for the American yesterday, which resulted in a retirement, Herta has bounced back brilliantly and set the third fastest time in what was a tight qualifying session this morning. Keyvan Andres also enjoyed a further solid showing to set the eighth fastest time while Ameya Vaidyanathan will line up this afternoon in 19th.

The first qualifying session and race yesterday at Paul Ricard was a tough affair for the team with both Andres and Herta suffering contact while running well in the field. As a result both drivers were unfortunately knocked down the order before Herta returned to the pit lane and retired. Vaidyanathan meanwhile made strong ground to finish the race in 13th position overall.

This morning, the slate was wiped clean offering the drivers the opportunity to start over ahead of the second and final race this afternoon around the French circuit. As ever, the 30 minute session got underway with most drivers slowly getting up to speed in the first 10 minutes.

It wasn’t until a few laps later, and the addition of new tyres, that the times really began to fall and the field started to push giving Herta his chance to move nicely up the grid. The Carlin man soon moved his car up in to fourth position while Andres was improving well within the top ten - his intentions very clear. Vaidyanathan was also building up his speed as the competitive field began to set their final laps.

In the last few minutes Herta had one more lap up his sleeve and with it was able to improve to set the third quickest time – ensuring a second row start for the second race this afternoon. Andres also placed his Carlin Dallara F312 in a great position securing eighth on the grid while Vaidyanathan will line up 19th and look to gain positions as he did in race one.

Herta said of qualifying, “It was really successful for us; it’s where we want and need to be. It’s extremely tight at the top so it’s good to also be close to that pole position time. The plan for this afternoon is to get a good start, similar to what we managed yesterday, and aim for the lead of the race. I really like this track and the long straights are great for overtaking and racing so I think we can have a good one this afternoon. I’m really enjoying it here – both the track and the weather!”

The second and final race of the weekend will get underway at 13.15 local time.