Sebastien Loeb, Citroen C4 WRC driver, today tested the Red Bull Racing F1 car as part of his gift from Red Bull for winning a record fifth World Rally Championship in Japan two weeks ago. Before his Silverstone test, he spent the day at Red Bull Racing’s Milton Keynes Factory (UK,) having his seat fitted in preparation for Silverstone and his subsequent participation in the official FIA Barcelona test on Monday 17th November.
In typical grey, rainy weather the French World Rally Champion took the RB4 around the British Grand Prix circuit to check out the car ready for Barcelona next week, as Tony Burrows, Red Bull Racing’s test team manager explained: “This run gave Séb a chance to see what the car feels like, learn all the controls, work with the engineers and make sure he was comfortable in the car.
“It’s difficult conditions, it’s freezing cold, it’s wet so it’s going to feel slippery to him, but he’s doing a good job, he’s on it straight away – he’s certainly not frightened of the car that’s for sure. There are a few seat modifications needed to make things more comfortable, but everything else is fine - just as we expected.”
Séb himself was happy with the day’s progress: “It was a great experience for me, but without traction control in low temperature and in these conditions it was difficult so I had to react very quickly when the car went sideways. But I was happy with the feeling I had with the car. I was not fast but I was feeling well in the car so in Barcelona, for sure, I hope I can do well.”
On Monday Séb will test the car for real at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. The test is a gift from Red Bull to congratulate Loeb on his fifth world rally title.
According to Ian Morgan, chief test engineer today will have helped Loeb’s preparation: “He did a really good job – obviously the conditions weren’t great. He was running on wet tyes on a damp track, but we did everything we needed to do he’s got used to the car. He seems very, very motivated and very keen.
“He’ll certainly do his best on Monday, but the physical demands will be the biggest problem for him I think – 5G under braking and the lateral load are quite high in Barcelona and he’s not used to that, but we’ll do everything we can to help him and get him through the day.”
The 34 year-old French driver will contest the Wales Rally GB in his Citroen C4 World Rally Car between 4 & 7 December, where the World Manufacturer’s title is still to be decided.
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