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Reigning British F3 title
holder Hitech Racing has signalled its intention to retain the coveted crown
with an impressive performance in the season’s first official two day test at
Pembrey. Austrian Walter Grubmüller and
Briton Max Chilton posted the third and fourth quickest times after completing
190 and 176 laps respectively at the Welsh track which concluded on Wednesday
For Grubmüller, entering his
second season in the UK’s premier single-seater
championship, his time of 48.257 seconds was only marginally slower than the
quickest time posted by Atte Mustonen.
Nineteen year-old Grubmüller improved dramatically over the course of his
first year with the Buckingham-based team and will now head to this week’s
second test at Snetterton in a confident mood.
While for Chilton, the youngest
driver on the 2008 grid and younger brother of BTCC star Tom Chilton, the fourth
quickest time was also a superb result for the Reigate youngster. Again, in only his second season in senior
motor racing, his time of 48.273seconds was comfortably quicker than many more
experienced F3 drivers among the 23-car field.
Completing the three-car line for
the David Hayle-led team was F3 race winner and former Formula Palmer Audi
Champion Jonathan Kennard who was fourth quickest overall on day one. The Tonbridge racer was drafted into the team
to help develop the new Dallara F308 and the former McLaren Autosport BRDC Young
Driver finalist was able to impart valuable information to the team as it bids
to retain the title it won with Marko Asmer last year.
David Hayle: “We are all
absolutely delighted with the performance of both Walter and Max. They are both very much at the same level in
terms in experience and I’m sure this has contributed to a fantastic competitive
edge which is inspiring each other to go faster and which ultimately led to the
times they were both achieving this week.
“With Jonathan his role within the
test was simply as a development test driver.
He has a lot of experience in F3 and he was able to give us a load of
information that we wouldn’t necessarily have got from someone less
experienced. He settled in well though
and was a valuable asset to the team as it gets to grips with the brand new car
for this season.”
Walter Grubmüller: “It was a great
test and I’m very happy to be up the front in our first test. I was a little surprised to be honest, but
then the team has worked hard and I’ve worked hard over the winter on my fitness
so maybe that was the result. The new
car is good, not a whole lot different to last years although there is much
improved grip and downforce. I’m looking
forward to Snetterton and the season starting and hopefully my first podium
early on.”
Max Chilton: “I was happy after
the Pembrey test with how things went. We really weren't working much on set up
or performance, it was just a shakedown for the cars really, so to end up fourth
quickest was a good feeling. There is a lot more to come, so I feel quite
confident after the first two days with the new car. I really enjoyed working
with the team and my team mates, it is going to be very close between us and I
like the competition within the team.”
Jonathan Kennard: “I had a
fantastic two days with the team. I got on really well with them and I was very
impressed with everything they did and the way they worked and also their plans
for development. It was absolutely
spot-on. It was my first time in the new
car and we were able to complete the whole programme satisfactorily. The team is superb, still hungry for success
and certainly not resting on their laurels.
If I ran an F3 team myself it would be exactly like Hitech
Racing.”
Combined testing at
Pembrey:
1. Atte Mustonen
Raikkonen Robertson Racing
48.122s
2. Oliver Turvey
Carlin Motorsport
48.222s
3. Walter Grubmüller
Hitech Racing
48.257s
4. Max Chilton Hitech Racing
48.273s
5. Sam Abay Carlin Motorsport 48.479s
6. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin Motorsport 48.522s
11. Jonathan Kennard Hitech Racing
48.671s
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