The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Sutil rounds off Force India test

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Sport - Racing : Motor

Sutil rounds off Force India test

Jerez: Intermittent rain played spoilsport again but Adrian Sutil still managed 71 laps to bring Force India’s first test of the year to a close at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit here.

The 25-year-old German drove on the third and final day of the scheduled test, completing the team’s planned programme of evaluating the standard electronic control unit and a range of set-up options.

Sutil also conducted several fuel cell tests on a day when red flags were a regular feature that impeded his running.

With the track staying damp until mid-afternoon, times were also slower than the previous days and Sutil’s time of 1:21.705 seconds was not representative of the progress made on Wednesday.

“With the rain, it was not the best conditions at the start but at least we did a lot of running in the wet, which was helpful as we tried some different settings,” Sutil said.

“We still have quite a lot of work to do but in the end, I was quite happy. Towards the mid-afternoon, we could do some dry running, which I needed as it’s a new circuit for me.

“It’s not that difficult to learn but there are still some tricky sections and even when it dried there were some damp parts, but I was happy to be back in the car,” Sutil said.

The positives

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer, also preferred to see the positives on the rain-marred day.

“The showers meant that the conditions on the track were fairly changeable until the last hour or so when we were able to do some dry running, but nevertheless it’s good for Adrian to get back in the car after a reasonably long lay off over the Christmas period,” he said.

“Despite the stoppages over the three days, it was still a productive test with our new driving combination,” he added.

The Formula One team will now travel to Valencia for the second of its 2008 tests from January 22 to 24.

Tonio Liuzzie will drive on day one, followed by Sutil on the second and Giancarlo Fisichella on the final day. — PTI

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