Midnight Pre-Season Test Report - Jerez

No.1 - LUKAS EULER, GER

"You arrive at Jerez, Spain and think, Spain, usually sunny weather. Well not today, as the forecast predicted it was pouring down all session long. But we didn't have any wet driving so far, so it was good testing and valuable data to collect. The first aim was of course to complete the laps without any damage to the car, which is already a job to start with under these conditions. But it went very well and with an issue free session we were able to put a lot of data together which should help us in the wet races this year. Especially Sepang, where we anticipate it may rain heavily.

We finally have an idea of how to get the wet tires to work, and maximise the life of these tires aswell. Under wet conditions we have to find a good compromise with the setup in case it would dry out again, but we are certain to have found valuable information.
I myself felt better and better the more laps I did, although at the end you could notice that the tires do wear and especially the braking needs some more looking into, as this is the area I felt most uncomfortable with under the described conditions. But it is good to sort these issues out now, so we should be looking good for Melbourne.

Peronally Preseason is always good to get back into it, but nothing beats the offical season start, so I am really looking forward to Melbourne and I cannot wait until the red lights go out and we are back racing.

Jamez did his laps very early in the morning, and Alex joined the track while I was underway already. We all had a good, clean session and a very good overall preseason, which let us to fly to Melbourne with high hopes."


No.2 - ALEX COOPER, GBR

"As expected, today was a washout. There were some positives though, it was my first wet running of the season and I learnt more about the tyres with every lap I did. Although it's unlikely we'll see conditions as bad as today throughout the season, I know what to expect for races that are rain affected.

As always with a wet session, the main objective was to keep out of the barriers. I managed that, and like the previous two tests I got everything done in one run, once again with no reliability issues. In some ways it's good that we managed to learn more about the rain and the wet tyres, we've now got some valuable data which will be handy for any wet races.

That's pre-season over, now it's time to prepare for Melbourne; it's hard to believe the season starts in just 14 days!"


No.30 - JAMEZ SHEPHERD, AUS

"Today's test session was a lot of fun. We didn't have a set programme for today, and were instructed to just enjoy ourselves in the extreme conditions. I managed to get some good long runs in on the wet tyre, and kept the car facing the right direction and on the 'black stuff' all session.

Hopefully Lukas and Alex have a good clean session later today, and with any luck this rain may pass briefly and allow them to relax a little. Once again, it's difficult to gauge where we are in relation to our competitors, but we're confident we're making positive steps toward preparation for the season ahead.

With pre-season now complete for me I'll be looking forward to a short break before the official launch next week. The whole team is very excited about the upcoming launch."