25/03/2010
NEWS STORY
Racing Engineering enjoyed another positive and constructive today on the third and final day of pre-season testing at Paul Ricard. German rookie Christian Vietoris, very convincing during the previous two days at the French track, had another strong performance finishing the morning session in third and the afternoon session in fourth position. Team mate Dani Clos, focusing on set up work, was sixth in the morning and finished the afternoon in ninth position.
The GP2 field continued with its respective testing programs on track configuration 2D and the morning started with some light rain. However, the track dried up quickly and, although the teams suffered from getting the soft tyre compound to their optimal working temperature, both Racing Engineering drivers were clocking competitive lap times. Christian finished the morning with the third fastest time with Dani behind him in 6th position. In the afternoon, and with a forecast of more rain, Dani continued his preparation work, including a session of pit stops during the last half hour of the day. Christian, who saw yesterday's afternoon session coming to an early end due to a mechanical issue, worked on getting more and more used to the car, the team, and testing different set ups in order to complete his preparation for his first season in GP2. The Racing Engineering boys were among the most active drivers on the track today, with Dani having completed 90 laps and Christian having finished 88 laps.
Racing Engineering will be present at the next and last pre-season test in Barcelona, taking place from the 7th until the 9th of April at the Circuit of Catalunya, where the 2010 season will kick off with its first event one month later.
Dani Clos: "We can look back onto some very positive test days, for the team as well as for me. We have gained very positive insights, which we will apply to the car for the test in Barcelona. I am very optimistic regarding those test days there and also the upcoming races. However, we still have some work to do, but start from a good base."
Christian Vietoris: "Today was a good day of testing again. We started on a set of tyres from yesterday and quickly improved the time in the morning. We found some good solutions and improved the car to better suit my driving style. I am feeling more and more confident with the car. We need to still get some work done, but we are on a good way. I am happy so far."
Thomas Couyotopoulo, Sporting Director of Racing Engineering: "We worked on different configurations today and things went quite well. We didn't go for a fast lap in the afternoon, so our drivers set their fastest times in this session quite early on. The ultimate goal was not performance, but the preparation of the season and we therefore finished the day with intense pit stop training. We had three positive and productive days at Paul Ricard and gained a lot of data, which we have to analyze now before heading towards the test in Barcelona."