ch Reid GP continued to be among the pacesetters in testing for the 2011 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship with Cypriot Tio Ellinas second in the final session at the Croft circuit . New signing Jack Hawksworth was an impressive fourth fastest in the session, just off the pace of Ellinas, in only his first test with the Cardiff-based team.
Oscar King and Dan Wells both had a successful opening session, but were unable to get the most out of new tyres in the second. After making changes to their cars between the sessions however, both remain optimistic ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying for rounds seven and eight of the BTCC support series.
Tio Ellinas: “I think both sessions went very well, the second better obviously to finish second fastest. On my flying lap I had a good first sector but made a little mistake in the second which ultimately cost me P1 but overall I think we are moving in the right direction and should be in a good position tomorrow when it comes to qualifying and when it really counts, to have a front row start. I haven’t raced here before and the track is quite bumpy, so it will be very important to be careful and not get into trouble.”
Oscar King: “The first session was OK, I was running around the P6/P7 mark but didn’t get many laps in towards the end and dropped to ninth. In the second I was hopeful of improving further but I overdrove I think and wasn’t able to capitalise as much as I’d like. But, when it matters in qualifying, I can hopefully repeat the form of this morning’s session and get a good start position for the races.”Dan Wells: “We had a good first session and had a good balance with the car running in sixth or seventh on old tyres. However in the second session I pushed too hard too early on new tyres and went off, which damaged the floor and nose and upset the tracking. But I’m optimistic about qualifying as we’d made some changes between the sessions which improved the car so now I can get my head down tomorrow and hopefully get some good times in when it matters.”
Jack Hawksworth: “I think that was a reasonable start to my season with the team and I’m pretty happy with the result. I spent much of the first session finding my feet and ironing out a few issues, which are inevitable when you run a car for the first time in a while. I wasn’t too far off Tio’s pace but to be honest the benchmark is how far off the quickest driver you are and that’s the aim for tomorrow. I’m feeling pretty confident, we know where the time is, and we are moving in the right direction.”
Team Principal David Hayle: “It’s been a fairly productive day overall and we’re optimistic about the weekend, with both Tio and Jack setting some quick times in the second session, particularly impressive was Jack on his first time in the car. Oscar had a good first session but felt he overdrove in the second, however I’m confident he can be up near the front tomorrow. Dan too had a good first session and the changes we made between the first and second should allow him to improve again for qualifying tomorrow. All in all, we’re happy with all the driver’s performances and relish the chance to get some more podiums under our belt this weekend.”
Qualifying gets underway tomorrow morning for the first of two 30 minute sessions, at 10.25 with the second at 14.10. The weekend’s opening 15-lap race will take place later that afternoon at 17.10 with the second race at 13.50 on Sunday.
