As another step towards his goal of competing in the 2006 British Formula Three Championship, Indian racer Suk Sandher tested with the leading Räikkönen Robertson Racing team - part owned by Formula One star Kimi Räikkönen. In a day of testing at the Valencia circuit in Spain on December 22nd, Suk took the opportunity to acclimatize himself to a 2005-spec Formula Three car and to work with a top quality team.
"Räikkönen Robertson Racing are fully booked for 2006, but my main goal was just to get myself back out on a circuit and to try a 2005 Championship Class car," explained Suk, who lives in Warwick. "It was my first time in a car for over eight months so I was pleased to get so close to the times of the regular drivers, despite the fact that we only had 300km of running on a track I had never seen before.
"I got faster as the day went on, and it was a shame in some ways that we only had two new sets of tyres to use while we were there. The team were superb, very professional the best I have worked with at that level, they made me feel very welcome even though they have their drivers for 2006, and they were relaxed and got the job done - I'm very grateful to team manager Boyo Hieatt for his help. It was also a chance to try out the Mercedes engine, which was an impressive unit.
"The weather was good all day and I got in six runs of eight to ten laps. The circuit was great - I wasn't quite sure what to expect as it was anti-clockwise, but that turned out not to be a problem. It was a low to mid speed circuit and quite technical, but the main thing was that the weather was perfect. I've been working hard on my fitness over the previous eight months so had no worries on that score - I'm probably fitter than I have ever been.
"I'd like to do the championship class in 2006 and I'm looking to put a package together, but it is expensive. I'm keeping the dialogue open with the team about more testing - it will take a couple of more tests to get really up to speed. I have to keep working on things away from the car mow to put a package in place for next season, but overall it was a good experience, and a chance to remind people of what I can do - I'm talking to several teams and this test was a good chance to remind people what I can do."
