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Dams : GP2 Europe, Paul Ricard testing 28-29 February 2008 |
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Saturday, 01 March 2008 |
Just a few days after racing in the second round of the Asian GP2 Championship,
the DAMS team and its two drivers, Kamui Kobayashi and Jérôme d’Ambrosio, were
hard at work on the Paul Ricard circuit for two days’ practice with the new car,
which will be used in this year’s GP2 Championship.
The first day’s programme was devoted to getting to grips with the new GP2
single-seater, as well as ironing out the inevitable reliability problems that
rear their heads when fettling in a new car. The team decided not to shod new
tyres and concentrate on learning about its new machine.
The engineers
use the second morning to run though a number of set-ups to study the car’s
handling in different conditions. As they were busy ironing out the various
glitches they decided to postpone the fitting of new rubber until the
afternoon.
Overall, the two days have been very productive. They have
enabled the drivers, engineers and mechanics to adapt to a completely new car
and prepare for the coming season.
Barcelona will the theatre of another
test session next week.
Eric Boullier, Team Manager: “It was important
for us to understand the reactions of the new GP2 Series car, and not to run
before we could walk. Our drivers also needed some time to familiarise
themselves with this new machine. We were not really going for a time given the
specific nature of the Castellet layout. Being quick here is no real guarantee
of being competitive on the circuits hosting the championship. Overall, it’s
been an encouraging two days. I’d like to thank the team for all the hard work
they’ve put into solving the teething trouble we encountered with this
completely new car.”
Kamui Kobayashi
Day 1: 7th quickest time in the
afternoon.
Day 2: 17th quickest time in the afternoon.
“We didn’t do a
lot of running on the first day because of minor reliability problems. In
addition, the car needed numerous adjustments. I think we learned a lot on the
second day. The car is a big step forward performancewise as well as from a
driver’s point of view compared to the old model. I like its handling, which is
much closer to that of an F1. I’m disappointed not to have got the best out of
my new tyres in the late afternoon today because of traffic. I’m confident,
though, as I was sixth-quickest for most of the afternoon when everybody was on
new rubber.”
Jérôme d’Ambrosio
Day 1: 25th quickest time in the
afternoon.
Day 2: 26th quickest time in the afternoon.
“The early part
of testing was a bit difficult as the car’s handling posed problems for me that
I hadn’t met before. It’s much quicker and more sensitive than the old one. Its
steering seems very heavy and I found it difficult to get used to. But then
everything fell into place. Finally, this test session’s been very positive. We
still have a lot more to learn and I can’t wait to get to Barcelona to continue
my preparation".
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