Alexander Rossi Tops GP2 Timesheets Each Day in Bahrain Test
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| Alexander Rossi |
Alexander Rossi stamped his authority on the first day of the official GP2 testing in Bahrain by posting the fastest time of the day with a 1:40.604 during the afternoon session. Following a positive Abu Dhabi test, the team had moved to Bahrain hopeful of fine tuning the performance of the car and quickly showed their strength on track with consistent and positive results.
A near perfect second day of testing for EQ8 Caterham Racing saw Alexander end the day in P2 after experiencing a brief and unusual rain shower during his new tire run. With just four hundredths of a second separating him from P1, Alexander's morning times were good enough to maintain the second position until the end of the day. With performance runs completed during the morning session the focus then moved to consistency and tire evaluation over long runs during the afternoon.
The final day saw a trend in the positive performance and Alexander’s fastest lap from day two remained unbeaten for the remainder of the test. The third day's running went to plan with Alexander narrowly missing out on the top spot by just 0.046 during the morning performance runs. Having completed a large number laps over the last three days on both the Pirelli hard and soft tires the team now move to the Bahrain race on 5th and 6th April confident in both their qualifying and race pace.
Alexander Rossi: "Being P1 and P2 at Bahrain test each day was a really positive boost for the team, as we know were going in the right direction with understanding the car and tires. The three day test in Abu Dhabi left us with a list of things that we wanted to cover in Bahrain and we were missing a bit on the performance runs which we seem to have resolved. Initially I was slightly compromised with a small braking issue that was quickly fixed and moving forwards it was clear that we had good pace and found a sweet spot on the prime tires.
"I wasn’t expecting the weather to play a factor in our run plan in the Middle East! None the less the second day's running was great for the team and we proved that Day 1 wasn’t a fluke. To have our cars fastest and so close to each other shows that we should definitely be confident in our qualifying pace now.
"I was quite happy with the consistency we achieved on a completely different track and a different type of tire. Looking at the quickest times from each day we were never out of the top two and we have made big steps forward from the Abu Dhabi test. Overall it has been a really good six days of testing; everyone has put in a massive amount of effort and the team is working really well together. For me, having the continuity of the team from last season is really important and that meant I could get straight to work on the first day of testing. Already knowing everybody has done me a great deal of good and we have a lot of confidence and faith in each other which is needed in order to have a successful year.
"Having finished the 2013 season on a strong note I hope that we can start the season at a similar standard and make a positive impression on the series from the first race."
Day One
Alexander Rossi – P1 – 1:40.604 – 43 laps
Weather: Air temp 27 ËšC / track temp 32ËšC – Dry
Day Two
Alexander Rossi – P2 – 1:39.173 – 64 laps
Weather: Air temp 28ËšC / track temp 31ËšC – Dry
Day Three
Alexander Rossi – P2 – 1:39.693 – 67 laps
Weather: Air temp 27ËšC / track temp 30ËšC – Dry