05/08/2005
NEWS STORY
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On a day when every team improved on the time it set on Wednesday, France emerged as the quickest, though once again, the competition was fierce, with just 0.932s covering the top ten car.
In total, the 15 teams completed 1439 laps of the 1.639 mile National Circuit at Silverstone, with Brazil completing the most laps (141) and Switzerland the least (44).
France driver, Alex Premat: 'The A1 car is nice and easy to drive, it has a good gearbox, the engine is great and the car is very reliable. We've worked on the car set up and dampers and it has responded well to the changes. I'm very pleased to have the fastest lap time of the session and I'm looking forward to driving again at Paul Ricard.'
Malaysia Seat Holder and driver, Alex Yoong: 'The test went well with the car performing well throughout. A1
Grand Prix has done a brilliant job, and it looks like this will be a fantastic Series. Everyone is very enthusiastic and looking forward to the first race. It will be extremely competitive and the race will reward the Team that is most consistent.'
Australia driver, Christian Jones: "I'm very happy with the car for its first run on track. It was faultless and we achieved everything we wanted to from the last two days. It was also great to know I was the fastest driver out there at one point."
Great Britain driver, Robbie Kerr: "We’ve learnt a lot – gone the right way, the wrong way and the right way again. There’s a lot to think about. When we roll out next time we’ll know from here where there’s potential. Personally it’s been really good – I’ve enjoyed it. It’s good to get back in the seat and I’m looking forward to the season."
The teams and drivers involved in the 2-day test at Silverstone were as follows:
Australia - Christian Jones
Brazil - Nelson Piquet jnr, Danilo Dirani and Joćo Paulo Oliveiria
China - Qing Hua Ma and Tingyi Jiang
France - Loic Duval, Alexandre Premat and Nicolas Lapierre
Great Britain - Robbie Kerr and Alex Lloyd
Lebanon - Kalil Beschir and Basil Shaaban
Malaysia - Alex Yoong
Mexico - Luis Diaz, Memo Rojas, David Martinez and Salvador Duran
Netherlands - Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen
New Zealand - Jonny Reid and Matt Halliday
Pakistan - Adam Khan
Portugal - Pedro Lamy
South Africa - Stephen Simpson and Thomas Scheckter
Switzerland - Neel Jani
USA - Jeff Simmons
The next test is at Paul Ricard on August 24.