Pruebas de F1 a pilotos nuevos: Jerez

[Accord]

Empezaron hoy. Muy bueno ver a BMW manteniendo la promesa de esta prueba a sus pilotos.

Soucek tops Jerez test for Williams

By Jamie O'Leary Tuesday, December 1st 2009, 16:06 GMT


Andy Soucek set the pace on the first day of Formula 1 young driver testing at Jerez, despite an afternoon spin that brought out the red flags.

The 24-year-old Spaniard, who was testing for Williams as his prize for winning this year's Formula 2 championship, shot to the top of the timesheets during the first hour of running, and was never outside the top four thereafter.

His pace-setting lap of 1m19.158s came with an hour of running to go, and was after a spin and stall at the Michelin hairpin brought out the red flags.

Britain's Paul di Resta was an impressive second quickest, despite Force India having only run him in the afternoon, after JR Hildebrand drove the car during the morning.

The DTM front-runner's best lap, which came in the final 10 minutes of the session, was 0.211s slower than Soucek's and demoted Gary Paffett's McLaren to third.

The morning running was interrupted by an early red flag. Brendon Hartley spun his Toro Rosso between the chicane and Ferrari curve and clouted the barrier, knocking off the right-front wheel and nose of his car.

Daniel Ricciardo, who was following closely, spun in avoidance and ended up getting his Red Bull beached in the gravel.

Ricciardo recovered to set the fourth fastest time, ahead of Ferrari's Jules Bianchi and Brawn's Mike Conway.

The BMW Sauber team tested Alexander Rossi as a prize for his success in the Formula BMW championship. Rossi was seventh quickest.

"I very much enjoyed this day," said Rossi. "It is impressive what the car does, how predictable and precise its reactions are, and how high the overall grip level is. But I have to admit I am also a little bit disappointed because being a racing driver you always want to be the fastest!

"I think in the afternoon we didn't manage to find the perfect balance. Physically I have to say it was as demanding as I expected it would be. The power steering is a great help compared to GP2, but the g forces obviously are higher."

Briton Oliver Turvey, who was testing as his prize for winning the 2006 McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award, was given 90 minutes of running at the end of the day by McLaren.

He completed only 27 laps - less than anyone else - but improved his times more than anybody else in the final half hour. His best lap was 1.698s off the pace.


Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Soucek Williams 1m19.158s 87
2. Di Resta Force India 1m19.369s + 0.221s 46
3. Paffett McLaren 1m19.426s + 0.268s 54
4. Ricciardo Red Bull 1m19.534s + 0.376s 112
5. Bianchi Ferrari 1m19.626s + 0.486s 90
6. Conway Brawn 1m19.920s + 0.762s 58
7. Rossi Sauber 1m20.227s + 1.069s 82
8. Ericsson Brawn 1m20.333s + 1.175s 49
9. Baguette Renault 1m20.511s + 1.363s 105
10. Hildebrand Force India 1m20.537s + 1.379s 49
11. Turvey McLaren 1m20.856s + 1.698s 27
11. Hartley Toro Rosso 1m21.325s + 2.167s 69

All Timing Unofficial

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80386

[Accord]

Dia 2. Ojo que hay un chinolandes en el reno, y dicen que ultimamente hay mucho representante chino alrededor del equipo, venta de reno a chinos? quien sabe......

Paffett on top at Jerez

Times coming down as the rookies test

Testing for up and coming young drivers continued Wednesday at Jerez with nine of the ten teams that took part in the 2009 season in action with Gary Paffett topping the timesheets with a best lap of 1:18.718s.

McLaren again ran the regular tester and DTM racer, focusing on fuel load analysis ahead of the re-fuelling ban that comes into effect next year. The British racer completed 80 laps of the 4.423km Spanish test venue, his best lap coming on his 42nd tour of the day just ahead of a brief rain shower and was four-tenths quicker than Tuesday’s pace.

After topping the times with Formula Two champion Andy Soucek on Tuesday, Williams Toyota understandably opted to run new signing Nico Hulkenberg during the second day of the test. The German racer was second fastest, his time just a fraction slower than Soucek’s Tuesday best.

British F3 champion Daniel Ricciardo continued to test with Red Bull Renault, trimming three-tenths off his best time to date with the third fastest time.

“I found it a bit easier today,” admitted Ricciardo who conducted a varied programme including aerodynamic assessment and brake testing. “I knew what to expect this morning and the procedures were easier to understand, so I was able to concentrate on improving my driving and hopefully give my best in terms of providing the engineers with good feedback.”

Mercedes protégé Paul di Resta enjoyed his first full day of testing with Force India Mercedes. The Scot, fourth fastest, tested various development components on the VJM02 challenger. "We had quite a structured programme this morning of running back to back set-up for 2009 and 2010 and both long and short runs, but it went pretty well," he said. "I'm up to speed now and I understand what I can do to improve my own performance."

Esteban Gutierrez took over testing duties from Alexander Rossi at BMW Sauber; the 18-year old Mexican recorded the fifth best time, 1.5 seconds off the ultimate pace. The team lost a little time late in the day with a hydraulic leak, but Gutierrez was happy with his day behind the wheel.

“It was a very positive day for me,” he said. “The main idea was to live that experience, to enjoy the day and to learn. In the end, with the grip level getting higher, my neck was a bit stiff and it was good to evaluate my own physical condition. The extra training I did paid off.”

Mike Conway and Marcus Ericsson continued to test with Brawn Mercedes and proved relatively evenly matched with the sixth and seventh fastest times respectively ahead of J.R Hilderbrand. The American was eighth fastest in the second Force India, but was initially hampered by a brake setup issue before making progress as the day progressed.

"I was concerned I wouldn't be able to maximise the high speed cornering of the car, but I was able to get the most out of the two high speed sections so I was really happy with this progress," the Indy Lights star said. "On the run I got the best time we were running on a particularly conservative engine setting so I was pretty satisfied, even if the lap time didn't really show on the timesheets.

"

Jules Bianchi meanwhile who was back behind the wheel of the F60 for his second and final day of running. The Frenchman completed an impressive 113 laps as he acclimatised to F1 machinery.

“I know I wasn’t particularly quick, but running in race configuration meant I was able to learn a lot," the F3 Euroseries champion explained after lapping 1.9s off the pace of Paffett. "With the help of the team, I got to understand the car, especially its handling when running consistent lap times, which seemed really positive to me.”

Ho-Pin Tung and test regular Lucas di Grassi shared driving duties for Renault and set the tenth and 11th best times for the Anglo-French team.

“This was my first proper test in an F1 car and it was a great experience," said the former who will remain at the circuit for the final day to take part in team debriefs. "To begin with I concentrated on finding a reasonable set-up and then got down to working through the programme with the engineers as we tested some parts for the 2010 car."

Mirko Bortolotti completed his first test with Toro Rosso Ferrari. The Italian, who tested with Ferrari a year ago after winning the Italian F3 championship, lost time with some mechanical issues in the morning, but was able to put in the laps later in the day.

“Being able to help the team with testing for next year was very interesting, even though I had to spend some time in the garage in the morning," he said. "With so little testing allowed in Formula One, today was very important for me, giving me the chance to do some miles.”

The final day of testing takes place on Thursday.

Jerez - 02/12/2009
1 . G. Paffett - McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 - 1:18.718 (+ 0.000 ) - 80 laps
2 . N. Hulkenberg - Williams Toyota FW31 - 1:19.184 (+ 0.466 ) - 94 laps
3 . D. Ricciardo - Red Bull Renault RB5 - 1:19.243 (+ 0.525 ) - 92 laps
4 . P. di Resta - Force India Mercedes VJM02 - 1:19.411 (+ 0.693 ) - 58 laps
5 . E. Gutierrez - BMW Sauber F1.09 - 1:20.190 (+ 1.472 ) - 68 laps
6 . M. Conway - Brawn Mercedes BGP 001 - 1:20.222 (+ 1.504 ) - 83 laps
7 . M. Ericsson - Brawn Mercedes BGP 001 - 1:20.440 (+ 1.722 ) - 37 laps
8 . JR. Hilderbrand - Force India Mercedes VJM02 - 1:20.517 (+ 1.799 ) - 49 laps
9 . J. Bianchi - Ferrari F60 - 1:20.586 (+ 1.868 ) - 113 laps
10 . L. Di Grassi - Renault R29 - 1:20.898 (+ 2.180 ) - 54 laps
11 . H. Tung - Renault R29 - 1:21.492 (+ 2.774 ) - 67 laps
12 . M. Bortolotti - Toro Rosso Ferrari STR4 - 1:21.761 (+ 3.043 ) - 79 laps.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International