23/06/2006
NEWS STORY
Tiago Monteiro: "This morning, we only did one run and I ended up touching the wall on the last corner - the infamous 'Wall of Champions', which has taken out quite a few drivers in the past. I wasn't hurt at all, the car wasn't too badly damaged and my crew did a great job to repair it in two hours. That's the positive side of it, anyway! In the afternoon, we stayed on the same tyres because we figured there wouldn't be much to gain from switching to a new set, so that's why it didn't look too good on the time sheet. We focused mostly on balance, in order to see if we could run with the softer tyres, which seem quicker but don't last very long, so we need to work on that. Tomorrow, we'll be running in better conditions with new tyres, so I'm expecting to see a big improvement."
Christijan Albers: "The lap time doesn't look too bad, but we're really going to have to work hard tonight to improve the balance of the car. The car is still too nervous and quite difficult to drive but in spite of this, I was still able to post some consistent lap times. The motivation level of the team is really high and everyone is working hard to find a solution, so I'm optimistic that we will be able to deliver a better result."
Giorgio Mondini: "The morning was very short, with the car stopping on my second lap, so there isn't much to take away from that. Luckily, the team found the problem and was able to prepare the car for the second session. In the afternoon, we tried to condense the programme. I did one long run, but I wasn't happy with the balance, so we made a few shorter runs to try and determine our tyre choice. We were able to improve the car gradually as the day went on but clearly, we've had better days. We need to some work to get it where it needs to be, but considering the slippery track conditions today, I was quite happy to bring the car back in one piece."
James Key, Technical Director: "We had an unfortunate morning with the T-car - a small assembly issue that we were able to quickly solve between sessions, but we lost a lot of running time with Giorgio as a result. Both race cars ran later on in the first session, as it was clear that the track condition was pretty poor. We got a bit of a feel for things like temperatures, but otherwise didn't learn an awful lot in the first session. Unfortunately, Tiago hit the wall on his last lap, something we've seen in the past many times before. The guys did a great job to put the car back together and get him out in the afternoon, and that was more of a proper session's work. Tiago concentrated on set-up and learning a bit for the race, and Christijan concentrated equally on set-up, but also on the tyre choice. I think he did a good run at the end with our chosen tyre spec. Giorgio also did a good job, and came to a similar conclusion. I suppose that none of the cars felt optimal to the drivers today, but that's to be expected because of the track conditions and the reduced downforce levels. The balance started to come together toward the end of the day, but there's some more work to be done tomorrow. I'm sure that as the track condition improves we'll get better, and we should be OK for Sunday."
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