Barcelona Test - Day three
STRONG DAY FOR FORCE INDIA
27 February 2008 - Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil
brought the debut test of the Force India Formula One Team's
new aero package to an end today at the Circuit de Catalunya,
Spain. Again the team's performance over the day was encouraging,
with Giancarlo posting the 12th fastest time of the day and
Adrian the 16th.
The team continued its simulation of a race weekend, with
set up and Qualifying work in the morning and long race-distance
runs in the afternoon. Again red flags punctuated the session,
but Force India managed to complete its programme for both
the day and the test.
The team will now go back to its Silverstone base to finalise
preparations for the opening race of the season in Australia
in just over two weeks.
Team quotes
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
'A reasonable end to the test, although we did have slightly
more problems than on the other two days. Our main aim was
to do a full race distance with both cars, which we managed
to achieve in the end despite the red flags and an exhaust
problem on Giancarlo's car. Overall the race pace was very
good, particularly Giancarlo's, and was competitive over the
three days. We have actually made a step forward and we know
we have got another substantial improvement for Melbourne,
so well done to all the team for its hard work. We will now
go back to the factory to get ready for the first race of
the season.'
Giancarlo Fisichella
'It's been a good day and once again we did over 100 laps.
We completed a race distance and, apart from the red flags,
everything is going well. I am quite happy because first of
all the car balance was very good and then the times were
very consistent. We are quite close to most of the other people,
which is also encouraging. The team did a good job and I am
very happy with the atmosphere now.'
Adrian Sutil
'We did a lot of laps today and it was good to have some long
runs and a race simulation. Unfortunately the longer stints
were not so good, mainly we were struggling a little bit to
find the right tyre pressures. The most important thing though
was that we did a full race distance and when we come back
here it will be in completely different conditions. The Qualifying
simulation in the morning went well and I am convinced for
the next outing in Melbourne we will be fine. I am confident.'
Testing data
Driver: Giancarlo Fisichella & Adrian Sutil
Track: Circuit de Catalunya, Spain
Best lap time: 1min 22.233 (Giancarlo) / 1min 22.521 (Adrian)
Laps completed: 209 (102 Giancarlo, 107 Adrian)
Kilometres completed 973km
Air temperature: High of 19ºC
Track temperature: High of 25ºC
Weather: Clear in the morning, overcast in the afternoon
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