In the Rookie session and the first official practice of the A1GP Durban A1 Team Netherlands laid a good foundation for the rest of the weekend. On the narrow street circuit the team finished sixth in the Rookie session and fifth in the official free practice.
Under perfect weather conditions it was Renger van der Zande who this morning started things for A1 Team Netherlands. In the two times 25 minutes session the A1 Team Netherlands Rookie managed to set a ninth and sixth fastest time, with a fastest lap of 1’20.966. Van der Zande didn’t take to much risk in driving during the Rookie session which was stopped a couple of times with the red flag after crashes of various other drivers.
After that it was Jeroen Bleekemolen’s turn. Especially in the first two sections of the circuit he was very fast. The one hour session finished after 30 minutes though, after some damage to the track was discovered at the chicane. In the fourteen laps the A1 Team Netherlands driver drove he managed to set a fastest time of 1’19.441.
Jeroen Bleekemolen; “It went quite well, we are quite competitive. I was sort of counting on that, but first you have to see if that will actually happen. We were there amongst the top runners, especially in sectors 1 and 2 we were amongst the fastest, in sector 2 we were even quickest. We ran on tyres that did have some mileage in them, so it is looking quite good. In the third sector we still have to find some time, but I think that that will happen as well. Yesterday I already said that we came here to win and I still see no reason why we shouldn’t be able to do thatâ€.
Jan Lammers; “So far, so good. You see that Jeroen is running superbly in the first two sectors and up to four fifth of the circuit we are quickest or inside the top three. We only have to work on the last bit and we are busy doing that at the moment. Tomorrow the first part has to be done, one a circuit where overtaking is near impossible qualifying will be very important. We are well underway and are competitive. For Renger it was really his first time on a street circuit and he did not take to much risk. We thank him for that. He has been productive in every way and has kick started the weekend for us with times which were inside the top six. The combination of data, driver feedback and wear and temperature patterns is very useful information for us. He has driven fast enough to make that perfectly visible for us and was very sensible in his approach. This afternoon that gave Jeroen the opportunity to take over from there. If we can continue like this all through the weekend we should be able to win Sunday afternoonâ€.
Renger van der Zande; “I was aiming for more today, but that just did not happen. For me this was the first time on a street circuit, so I mainly used the opening session to get some feel and build up confidence. In the second segment I was setting constant and faster lap times, but we were still a bit behind the quickest teams. I do think though that we will be able to close that gap thoughâ€.
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