Force India second quickest at Jerez testing
By IANSWednesday, December 2, 2009
JEREZ - Paul di Resta of Scotland brought some cheer to Force India Formula One team as he clocked the second fastest timing on the opening day of the three-day test session for rookies, at the 4.337 Kms Circuit de Jerez here.
Paul took over the VJM02 after the midday lunch break and worked through a programme to get fully comfortable in the car here Tuesday.
With weather clear and good mechanical reliability, the 23-year-old from West Lothian was able to complete 46 laps with a fastest time of 1 minute 19.369 seconds, the second quickest lap of the day behind Andy Soucek of Williams-Toyota (1:19.158).
Force India’s another test driver J.R. Hildebrand, 21-year old Indy Lights champion, took to the track in the morning to complete baseline runs and circuit familiarisation to prepare for the coming two days.
The American completed 49 laps with a best time of 1:20.537, the fifth quickest time of the morning. As track conditions improved overall times dropped and his lap was eventually the 10th quickest of the day at 1:20.537.
In all, 12 young drivers went through the test routine. Gary Paffet of McLaren-Mercedes was the third quickest in 1:19.426 (54 laps) followed by Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull-Renault (1:19.534, 113 laps) and Ferraris Jules Bianchi (1:19.626, 91 laps).
The 2009 champion team Brawn GP-Mercedes tried Mike Conway who was the sixth quickest in 1:19.920 over 58 laps.
