Javier Villa, current leader of the Spanish Formula 3Championship, celebrated his debut in a GP2 car yesterday at thePaul Ricard track. The young Spaniard quickly learned how tohandle this powerful car and adapt to this new track.
ForJavier who has been behind the steering wheel of an F3car, it was a big step up the ladder when he fastened the seat belt ofthe Dallara GP2 car. Javier was very excited about his first outing inPaul Ricard with such a powerful car in his hands.
The Racing Engineering driver found his rhythm quickly and worked on getting toknow the car better every lap. Times were obviously not ofimportance in the morning session, but nevertheless Villa was the 14th fastest out of 21 drivers on track - impressive given the fact that a lot ofdrivers who have run the entire 2005 season in the GP2 Series,tested in Paul Ricard as well.
In the afternoon Javier worked more on the set-up of the car and when he felt confident about marking a good lap time, the crew mounted a set of newtyres. However, Villa was not able to improve his lap time as ared flag on the track stopped him right on his fast lap.
The afternoon session saw Javier in 13th position after having finished 103 lapsduring this test.
Javier Villa “Everything went really well and I am very happywith my first time in a GP2 car and in Paul Ricard. The times I wasable to make were not bad at all and it’s a pity I wasn’t able to finisha lap on new tyres when there was a red flag. It was a veryinteresting experience. Step by step I got used to the car and thedifferent driving experience compared to a Formula 3 car, as there isquite some difference in acceleration and braking. I think we did agood job today and now I will enjoy the impressions a bit more. Butthen I have to change the chip as this weekend I am racing in Jerezand my goal is increasing my lead in the Spanish Formula 3Championship.”
John Gentry, technical director, commented: “We had absolutely noproblem with the car today and everything went fine with the driver.He is very mature for a young man and asks for what he wants. Ithink we did a lot of good work towards setting up the car for him andlap times were never our main priority.”
Alfonso de Orleáns-Borbón, team principal, added: “I am impressedby Javi’s first time not only in a GP2 car but also at this track. Wehave to keep in mind that about half the drivers today did one entireseason of GP2. In that respect Javi really did an excellent job. Butbefore thinking about next year, Javi has to go back to Spain and winthe Formula 3 races in Jerez this weekend. This is definitely hisnumber one priority at the moment.”
