The Spyker Formula One Team has concluded a successful first test with the new F8-VII at the Circuit de Catalunya on the outskirts of Barcelona, Spain. Christijan Albers covered 405km, bringing the car’s overall testing mileage to more than 1,600km, all without major mechanical problem.
In its final day of the test the team pushed on with its programme, with Christijan familiarising himself with the behaviour of the F8-VII and gathering data on the new Bridgestone Potenza tyres. Christijan was able to put in longer runs in the afternoon, covering 87 laps in total with a best time of 1:23.947secs.
Chief technical officer, Mike Gascoyne, commented, “The programme today concentrated mainly on understanding the Bridgestone tyres and getting them to work consistently over the long runs and on the first lap when new. It proved a little bit difficult to get a hold of them and we could only do a limited amount of set up work, but we did get some answers and now move forward to Valencia in very good shape. From a reliability point of view, we’ve had an excellent day with no real mechanical issues and we were able to complete our programme. Congratulations to everyone back at factory and at the track who’ve worked so hard to get the car here; even with a limited number of parts and spares we’ve managed to have three excellent days’ running. It’s a tribute to everyone’s hard work. “
Technical director, James Key, added, “It’s been a very productive week, the car has run extremely well and reliably; a good effort from all concerned. I’m very pleased with the progress, we’ve done a lot of kilometres and both Christijan and Adrian have come back and got back into the groove very quickly. Both had to learn about the new tyres and both got used to it very quickly. Our reliability has allowed us to progress and I’m now very optimistic of better progress in the next test. We’ve got a pretty good basis to move forward from. “
Christijan Albers reported, “Today we did make some progress with the times; of course we would have liked to make more time compared to yesterday, but we did our best and the team is working really hard and putting in the hours to improve. I’m quite happy with results; as a racing driver, you always want to go faster and I think we’re doing a reasonable job to achieve this. We know we still have a way to go, but at least we are able to fight. I’m happy that I did a lot of miles and laps as it makes me stronger as a driver before the start of the season. “
The team now remains in Spain for a second three-day test next week from 19 - 21 February. This time the programme moves to the 4.05km Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo close to the bustling city of Valencia and Spain’s Mediterranean Sea coast. In the team’s first two-car test of the year, Christijan Albers and Adrian Sutil will share driving duties and will be joined by the team’s new test drivers Fairuz Fauzy, Giedo van der Garde and Adrian Valles.
Testing data
Air temperature: High of 20ºC
Track temperature: High of 24ºC
Weather: Overcast in the morning, blue skies, warm and sunny in the afternoon
Laps completed: 87 laps
Driver: Christijan Albers
Track: Circuit de Catalunya, Spain
Best lap time: 1:23.947secs
F8-VII culminative testing data (since 1 January 2007)
Total kilometres run: 1,642 kilometres
Total days: 5
Christijan Albers: 1,117km in total
Adrian Sutil: 525km in total
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