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Hitech Racing continued its
superb pre-season testing pace with both Austrian Walter Grubmüller and Max
Chilton briefly holding the top spot during today’s second day at Snetterton.
Yesterday Reigate-based Max led for most of the session until the closing
minutes before dropping to third when the others switched to new tyres, just
ahead of 19 year-old Grubmüller
Today after posting the fourth and
sixth quickest times in the morning session, the teams took to the track for the
second three-hour session, Walter winding up fifth quickest just ahead of Max.
The reigning British Formula 3 champions, who dominated last season winning 11
of the 22 rounds, also had Briton Jonathan Kennard continue his development work
in the third car who was replaced by Venezuelan Rodolfo Gonzalez in the
afternoon.
Grubmüller’s impressive pace as he
embarks on only his second full season in motor racing and that of his 16
year-old team-mate Max, also in his second year, is a continuation of last
week’s superb performance at Pembrey.
Now though, with the season just three weeks away, signs are that the
Buckingham-based team will start the season as a leading contender to retain the
coveted crown.
For the David Hayle-led team, next
week sees a return to their home circuit of Silverstone as the series undergoes
its official launch and will mark the first time the team will have run its new
Dallara F308 Mercedes HWAs at its home circuit.
With a fantastic team effort
putting both confirmed 2008 drivers comfortably at the sharp end of the time
sheets once again, Hayle is relishing a return to the Northamptonshire circuit.
“We’ve had another two fantastic
days with Walter and Max and I’m absolutely delighted that once again they’ve
been running up at the front for most of the time, both quickest overall at one
point”, said David. “For them that’s a huge confidence boost and for the team
and everyone else it’s an indication of their true
potential.
“Both Jonathan and Rodolfo drove a
good few laps and were able to give us some more valuable feedback and now we
head home to Silverstone for our next session on Thursday looking for another
good performance.”
Walter Grubmüller: “We’ve had
another couple of good days and I’m very happy with how things are going. We’ve had no problems, a pretty solid couple
of days and worked on the set-up since Pembrey which has definitely improved the
car. I still think there’s more time to
come though and I’m looking forward to getting to what is effectively my home
circuit where I expect to be on the pace.”
Max Chilton: “It was a good test,
I think we’ve learnt a lot over the last two days and I’m very happy to be
running at the front again. One thing
I’ve really learnt about working with Hitech is that it’s not all down to the
car set-up; a lot has to come from the driver too, like learning how to keep
your exit speeds up. My pace at Pembrey was a bit of a surprise but I’d expected
to go well at Snetterton as I’d done most of my testing there so I’m looking
forward to Silverstone International as it’s another track I know
well.”
Top combined testing times from
Snetterton
1. Brendon Hartley Carlin
Motorsport 1:01.067
2. Marcus Ericsson Fortec
Motorsport 1:01.084
3. Sergio Perez T-Sport
1:01.086
4. Oliver Turvey Carlin Motorsport
1:01.109
5. Max Chilton Hitech Racing
1:01.178
6. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin
Motorsport 1:01.274
7. Walter Grubmüller Hitech Racing
1:01.335
10. Jonathan Kennard Hitech Racing
1:01.419
11. Rodolfo Gonzalez Hitech Racing
1:01.471
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