Di Resta and Liuzzi share the VJM03
Inclement weather conditions again played a starring role in testing at the Circuito de Jerez, Spain, today. With the heavy rain showers and high winds that have so far characterised the testing showing no signs of abating, Force India was obliged to modify its testing schedule slightly to allow the race drivers the best chance of the forecasted better weather later this week,
The team made the most of the amended programme to run through further set-up evaluation, plus race preparation and fuel and hydraulic systems checks. With no major issues Paul di Resta and Tonio Liuzzi completed over 250km in total. Adrian will continue tomorrow before Tonio gets back in the car on Saturday to conclude the test.
Paul di Resta: "I was back in the car this morning to get a bit more running. Unfortunately the weather was again very bad, but at this stage any running gives me more experience of the car and how the team works. I ran with the intermediate and wet tyres over the morning, which at least means I have got some solid experience of wet running and it won’t be such a novelty when I am faced with similar conditions in places such as Malaysia."
Tonio Liuzzi: "The weather was so difficult today with the constantly changing conditions. It seemed to rain every hour and then dry, but it never reached a stable level: it was either too dry for wets or too wet for dry tyres so you couldn’t get a consistent indicator of the performance. We did a few pit stop simulations and runs to get a bit more information and the car still seems to be responding well to changes. In these conditions though it’s very difficult to get a good understanding of what’s going on but everyone has the same weather, we just have to do what we can."
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer: "The poor weather continued today with gusting wind and heavy showers. Accordingly we worked on general race preparation and some fuel system and hydraulic system tests. Paul took the car for the morning, this time handing over to Tonio who finished up this afternoon. With the track as it was we didn’t have a chance to use dry tyres properly, but are hopeful for better conditions for the rest of the week."
Testing data
Driver: Paul di Resta (am) / Tonio Liuzzi (pm)
Track: Circuito de Jerez, Spain
Best lap time: 1:30.344 (Paul) / 1:30.666 (Tonio)
Laps completed: 57 (Paul 33 / Tonio 24)
Kilometres completed: 252km (Paul 146km / Tonio 106km)
