07/04/2010
NEWS STORY
Racing Engineering had a positive and busy day in Barcelona, on the first of three days of what will be the second and last pre-season test before the 2010 GP2 season starts. Under changing weather conditions, German rookie Christian Vietoris showed a very strong performance, running in top positions during the entire day and finishing the morning as well as the afternoon session in third place. His teammate, Spaniard Dani Clos, continued with evaluation work, and clocked the 11th fastest time of the day. During the next two days, Racing Engineering will continue preparing for the first race of the season, which will take place at the Spanish track in a month's time.
Low temperatures and wind welcomed the GP2 field at Barcelona today for the first of three days of testing, giving the teams the last chance to fine tune their Dallara GP2 cars before the 2010 season starts. There was little activity on the track during the first half of the morning session but Christian Vietoris, who was not yet familiar with the first sector of the Circuit Of Cataluna, was on form quickly, clocking several fastest laps, to finish the session on third place. In the afternoon, with changing weather and light rain, Christian continued with set up work, still lapping in a competitive and consistent manner. The Racing Engineering driver was also training pit-stops with his crew in order to prepare for the races to come. Christian finish the afternoon session in an excellent third position as well, less than a tenth over Maldonado's fastest time. Spaniard Dani Clos also continued with the work started in Paul Ricard two weeks ago, and was satisfied of having had a fruitful test day at his home track. Verifying some of the results obtained during the Paul Ricard test, as well as set-up solutions for the Barcelona event were part of his testing program, which will find its continuation during the next two days. Dani finished the day 11th overall.
Christian Vietoris: "This was a pretty good test day, which already started well in the morning. Although I initially had to learn the first sector, I was able to adapt quickly. The car felt good from the first lap on. We were testing several things on the car and most of them were quite positive. When it started raining a bit in the afternoon, we had a short break and tested pit-stops. At the end of the session I went out on new tyres and managed to have a pretty good lap."
Dani Clos: "We had a positive test day. We tried many things on the car and verified some things from Paul Ricard. Tomorrow we continue with our test program. Things are going quite well as we have one car at the top. I think we are working into the right direction."
Thomas Couyotopoulo, Sporting Director of Racing Engineering: "Christian did a great job today. He came to Barcelona without knowing a crucial part of the track and nevertheless managed to finish both sessions in a top position. Our planning for the day has been slightly affected by the weather conditions, but we pretty much managed to follow out testing plan. In the afternoon, when the track was a bit damp, we adapted the plan and Christian did some pit-stop training. Generally, we had a trouble-free test day where different set-up solutions could be tested in order to prepare ourselves for the Barcelona race weekend."