08/04/2010
NEWS STORY
Both Racing Engineering drivers took up their duties at Barcelona for the second of three test days at the Spanish circuit. Like yesterday, the weather conditions were not ideal and low temperatures characteristic for the day. Racing Engineering's rookie Christian Vietoris, had yet another strong day, running in top positions during the entire morning session and realizing a lot of productive work in the afternoon. Spaniard Dani Clos, on the other hand, can also look back onto a productive day, which he finished seventh overall.
A cloudy sky welcomed all GP2 drivers and teams at the Circuito de Cataluna for the second last day of testing before the season starts in four weeks. Unlike yesterday, the conditions were stable, and although rain was predicted for the afternoon, both sessions were held in the dry.
Christian Vietoris continued with his setup work based on the data obtained at Paul Ricard two weeks ago, and felt confident with the car to finish in second position, less than half a tenth over the fastest time of the day. During the afternoon, the German newcomer worked on race simulations, finishing on fifth position, just two tenths over the time of reference. Overall, Christian finished the day setting the second fastest time, confirming his progress and adaptation to the Racing Engineering team. Spanish teammate Dani Clos felt very content at the end of a day. Having progressed with the planned test program, he finished seventh in the morning and ninth in the afternoon. Dani finished the day in seventh overall, just four tenths off the fastest time of d'Ambrosio. In the afternoon both Racing Engineering drivers focused on race simulation and, nevertheless, set those competitive lap times. Given the ideal lap times of the afternoon session, Christian would have been on fourth position, with Dani Clos in sixth, and just a tenth of a second separating the two Racing Engineering boys.
Tomorrow will be the final test day at Barcelona and the Racing Engineering crew is facing a work intense day in order to finish off the planned test program. While today both drivers drove race distances, they will simulate qualifying sessions tomorrow.
Christian Vietoris: "The day was quite good, as I was second in the morning and also at the end of the day. We did back to back changes on the car to continue the work done in Paul Ricard. In the afternoon, we focussed on race simulations, and I'm very pleased with the team and the targets we have achieved today."
Dani Clos: "I feel very happy and encouraged after a very good day of work. We have tested many things and we have been in top positions all day long. The tests show that we are working into the right direction. We have one more day to finish he preparation for the races, and I'm very content because the whole team has worked very well."
Thomas Couyotopoulo, Sporting Director of Racing Engineering: "Today we have focused on race simulations, and we are happy with the results. However, the track and air temperatures were lower than those we will experience at the start of the season. The morning session was the faster one and the results were quite encouraging with Christian being in a strong second position and Dani in seventh. In the afternoon, although making long runs, the analysis of the data has shown that on their ideal laps, Christian and Dani would have set the fourth and sixth fastest time respectively. This shows that the cars as well as the boys are working well. We had no problems today, and will continue testing various setups tomorrow."