10/12/2007
NEWS STORY
Christian Klien enjoyed his second opportunity to drive the Force India F1 car when he took part in the team's major four-day at Jerez last week, setting the fastest overall lap time of 1:20.187 during his single day in the car on Wednesday. The Austrian driver, who also tested for the team in Barcelona last month, was one of six drivers to take the wheel of Force India's challenger as the team tested both the 2008 electronics package and new Bridgestone slicks. In total he completed 86 trouble-free laps totalling 373kms.
Christian's test day saw him joined by Giancarlo Fisichella, who had also tested on Tuesday, and they used their combined experience to help the engineers evaluate the technical and tyre packages.
"It was a good test and I think the team learned a lot from having drivers with different experience and ability to help move things forward," said Christian. "Fisichella and I did some long runs, setting comparable times, and I set my fastest laptime on slicks before the end of the day. I could see how energized the whole team was by the test; they found time in the car and we worked hard to get the most out of it. On the new slicks the car felt even better, but even on the grooved tyres the times were pretty good."
With senior team management present during the test, including Chairman Vijay Mallya, Team Principal Colin Kolles and Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne, all the drivers had the opportunity to demonstrate their ability and work closely with the team as it prepares for its first assault on the FIA Formula One World Championship under the new Force India F1 name.
"It was good to see Dr Mallya joining the other management in Jerez on two of the days and once again I can see how hard everyone in this team is pushing to make progress in 2008," said Christian. "Force India is clearly interested to work with experienced, quick drivers who know the circuits and also the technical areas to focus on, so I really concentrated on giving good feedback and working closely with the engineers to maximise performance."
Christian has now returned home to Austria and was this weekend enjoying some alpine skiing as he continues his training programme in the mountains.