A1 Team France set the third-quickest time in Friday? s practice on the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. At the end of the day? s only session Loïc Duval got to within 0.6s of the quickest time, but his attempts to beat the stopwatch were upset by a yellow flag at the end of practice. The team reckons it has found a number of useful set-up adjustments and is quietly confident for the next two days. Its aim is to finish on the podium in this weekend? s two races and to close the gap in the overall classification.
Olivier Panis, Sporting Director: “It’s been a good day for A1 Team France, which found its footing straight away setting promising times that bode well for the rest of the weekend. Sepang is a very demanding track with a wide variety of corners with very different characteristics. It’s often difficult to find the right set-up, but we’re on the right track as Loïc’s time showed in all sectors on his last run. Without the yellow flags at the end of the session, we would have been on the same pace as the fastest time of the day. “
Loïc Duval, driver: “I’m pretty satisfied with my first day. I know Sepang having raced GTs on it, but I have to say that the circuit looks very different when you’re in a single-seater. Technically speaking, Nicolas Prost’s absence forced us to miss the rookie session. It had a small impact on our programme as I had to spend time bedding in the brake pads with new tyres. We’ve also got a new engine this weekend and adjusting it took three laps. However, our performance is very promising and it improved throughout practice. Before my last run we made a major modification to the car’s set-up. I was not able to confirm the overall improvement in general balance due to the yellow flags at the end of the session, but we’ve definitely made a step forward as confirmed by the data acquisition systems. I think I can make a little progress too, so we’re feeling confident for tomorrow. ”
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