Today, A1 Team France took part in the rookie session and the first free practice on the Chengdu circuit in China, which is hosting the second round of the 2008-09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Championship.
Nicolas Prost replacing Loïc Duval was on the pace right away. On his first flying lap he was already up among the front-runners, and he finished the rookie session in second place just 1/100s off the best time. In free practice in which all the drivers took part Nico showed the same fighting spirit. He held on to 1st place for a long time despite numerous interruptions and ended the session in 2nd spot. These performances augur well for the rest of the weekend.
Olivier Panis, sporting director: “We managed to put in a lot of good laps today. We seem to be on the pace, which is very encouraging. Tomorrow, we’re going to fine tune our set-up even more and Nicolas will use every lap to up his speed. Overall, the first sessions have been positive, and we’re tackling the rest of the weekend in a confident frame of mind.”
Nicolas Prost, driver: “It’s been a good day’s preparation. We were able to run through our technical programme, and I felt at home in the car right away. The circuit’s bumpy and fairly twist y and we seem to have found the right set-up. I was a bit surprised to be at the front, but I mustn’t raise my hopes too much, as it’s only the first day. The hardest is still to come and I’m looking forward to doing battle in qualifying!”
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