25/11/2008
NEWS STORY
Formula One Force India driver Vitantonio Liuzzi clocked the quickest lap at the Speedcar Series test that ended today at the Dubai Autodrome. He was among five other drivers that took the wheel at the final test before the start of Season 2 on 5-6 December, 2008.
Liuzzi did not drive yesterday but managed to clock the fastest lap at this afternoon's session, quicker than Jacques Villeneuve's yesterday. Also present was 21 year old F3 Euro Series Champion Nico Hulkenberg who drove the newly evolved Speedcar for the first time today. Mentored by Willi Weber, Michael Schumacher's manager, the young German fared very well lagging only by three tenths of a second behind Liuzzi. Other drivers at the test included Stefan Johansson, Mathias Lauda, Mike Rudolph and Christopher Zoechling.
Stefan Johansson said, "It was nice to get back in the car again this week to get acquainted with the equipment. I am happy to be back in the Speedcar Series, and I'm very much looking forward to Season 2. Today was a reasonable day considering I only got a handful of laps in, but the times were close to the front runners and we did not get to run on new tyres"
Mathias Lauda who placed 7th in the championship ranking in Season 1 after having run just three rounds of five commented, "I drove with old tyres on yesterday and today so I'm not sure how much quicker I would have been with new tyres. The braking on the Speedcar is a lot more stable than it was last year, there is a bit of understeer but there's more traction and the engine is definitely more powerful and you can feel that the car has gotten quicker."
The youngest driver of the Series, 20 year old Dubai based Christopher Zoechling said, "The car was great with lots of performance and torque. It takes a lot of experience to control a car of that weight and understeer. I'm looking forward to being able to go up against some of the greats from the world of motor sport like Jacques Villeneuve, Johnny Herbert and Jean Alesi."
Overall Times
Vitantonio Liuzzi: 1:42.68
Nico Hulkenberg: 1:42.98
Stefan Johansson: 1:43.42
Jacques Villeneuve: 1:43.56
Christopher Zoechling: 1:43.73
Mathias Lauda: 1:43.78
Massimo Cioci: 1:45.07
Khalid Al Zarooni: 1:46.07
Beppe Perazzini: 1:47.07
Nigel Greensall: 1:48.00
Eric Charles: 1:49.28
Mike Rudolph: 1:51.41