06/11/2007
NEWS STORY
DPR completed four days of testing with the 2005-2007 GP2 car at the final test of the season for the GP2 Series last week. Running seven drivers over the duration of the test, the DPR team had a successful conclusion to their season, with top ten times on three of the four days.
DPR kicked off with two strong performances from drivers Andy Soucek and Luca Filippi on the first day. Filippi ran second quickest after the two opening day sessions, running third fastest in the morning and second quickest in the afternoon session. Soucek was close behind his team mate with sixth fastest time in the morning and with a focus on development work in the afternoon finished the day in 11th place.
On the second day Soucek was joined by young British racer, Oliver Jarvis. Both drivers showed strong form with Soucek fourth fastest in both sessions and Jarvis 10th quickest in the morning and 8th fastest in the afternoon. Jarvis was given the opportunity to test a GP2 car for the first time and impressed the DPR team, particularly as the 23-year-old had never driven at the Paul Ricard circuit. He quickly adapted to the powerful race car and was soon on the pace. His lap times showed he has the talent and driving skills to be a highly competitive racer in a GP2 car.
The DPR GP2 team completed a third productive day at Paul Ricard circuit with two GP2 Asia Series contenders climbing into the cockpit to sample the DPR GP2 cars. South African Adrian Zaugg and Indian driver Karun Chandhok were behind the wheel for both sessions and acquitted themselves well over the course of the day.
Chandhok turned 11th fastest lap and Zaugg 15th quickest in the morning session, and both drivers then improved in the afternoon with Chandhok finishing 8th fastest and Zaugg 14th of the 26 drivers testing at the French facility. Both drivers have been competing in the GP2 Series this season and are looking at opportunities for the Dubai- based GP2 Asia Series.
DPR completed the final day of GP2 testing at Paul Ricard with Nico Verdonck running in the morning in one car, before a return to the car for Oliver Jarvis in the afternoon. They were joined by young British driver, Ben Hanley. A number of minor mechanical issues hampered his efforts to get the most from the car and set a competitive lap time, so he finished 11th quickest in the morning and 23rd fastest in the afternoon. Belgian driver, 21 year old Verdonck recorded 26th fastest lap for the morning and Jarvis was 15th quickest in the afternoon. The drivers made significant progress over the course of the day and worked with the DPR engineering team to improve their performances, developing the car setups and gaining experience with the GP2 car.
David Price, Team Principal, DPR, said at the conclusion of the test, "Overall, we were very pleased with the outcome of the test. We've always known we had a front running car and once again, we proved that in the early part of the week. Our pace was very good on the first day, with both drivers being comfortable with the car and able to put in some quick times. Andy worked on developing the car for the Asian series in his two days of testing and we were pleased with the progress we made for this. Olly was very impressive. I think he has plenty of talent, as shown by his times in a new car at a new circuit for him. Karun and Adrian were both good to work with, and with their recent GP2 experience, settled in quickly. On the final day Ben ran well with us and we were very impressed with the feedback he gave us, it was just disappointing for both him and us that niggling mechanical problems meant that his times weren't a true reflection of his abilities. We were pleased to give Nico his first taste of the GP2 car. All in all, a very positive week for DPR."