Formula One kilometres in Mexico City.
Mexico City, 6th December 2008. A dream came true for Philipp Eng (AT) at theAutódromo Hermanos Rodrígue when the 18-year-old drove a BMW Sauber F1Team car on two occasions at the former Formula One track in the heart of MexicoCity (MX). Eng earned this chance last year when he won the Formula BMW WorldFinal in Valencia (ES). Twenty one talented youngsters from the three internationalFormula BMW series are now trying to follow in his footsteps.
"His maiden test was a very special day for Philipp Eng" said BMW MotorsportDirector, Mario Theissen. "Not just the car, but also the track was completely new tohim. He did a very good job. He benefited from the fact that on Thursday we ran lesslaps than planned. Therefore, he got some more laps behind the wheel of the cartoday. Apparently it did him some good to sleep two nights after his first FormulaOne experience. During his second appearance, he was really quick and consistent."
Eng was absolutely delighted with his appearances for the BMW Sauber F1 Teamon Thursday and today.
He said:
"This has been a fantastic experience. On the first day I quickly got used to the car and gained confidence with every kilometre. Yousoon work out where the ideal points are for gear shifting, and also learn the perfectbraking points. Then today I really felt at home in the car. I's a very nice feeling if youcan improve with each lap you drive."
Before Eng, Marco Holzer (DE) and Christian Vietoris (DE) had also been rewardedwith a Formula One testing opportunity following their victories in the 2005 and 2006Formula BMW World Finals. Nico Rosberg (DE), Ho-Pin Tung (CN) and SebastianVettel (DE) are three former Formula BMW drivers who also gained their firstFormula One experiences with the support of BMW.
Eng added: "A big thank you goes to BMW for giving me this great opportunity todrive an F1 car. I was mostly impressed by the brakes. The deceleration of such a caris very extreme and it is better than any other car I have driven so far in my career. Thistesting gives me a massive motivational boost to continue working with the samedetermination as in the past years."
"For the first time, the young-gun series visits the American continent for this uniqueevent. To do my maiden Formula One drive here in Mexico City obviously added a lotto the special atmosphere" , confirmed Eng. "This track has a long history and manygreat champions have celebrated victories here. I'm convinced the competitors in thisyears Formula BMW World Final will also be especially motivated to score a greatresult here"
