A1 TEAM MALAYSIA COMPLETES FINAL PRE-SEASON PREPARATIONS
Silverstone, UK: A1 Team Malaysia completed final pre-season testing at Silverstone circuit in England today. Alex Yoong drove the three sessions, ahead of the new season of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
The two-day event was the final opportunity for the team to fine tune its car preparations before the cars are shipped to the Netherlands for the first round of the 2007/08 A1GP Series, which takes place in Zandvoort from 28 – 30 September.
On the first morning of the test the team suffered an engine problem which necessitated lengthy repairs and these limited the track time available. In addition, post-session debriefs highlighted data inconsistencies which had compromised the car setup. Despite this, the team ended the first day with the 14th quickest time.
The Malaysian team continued working through a programme of setup configurations, aiming to improve the overall performance of the car and with revised setup data were confident of improving their lap times. Their efforts paid off as, during the course of the final morning of track time, Yoong was able to lap the Silverstone National circuit quicker and quicker. Posting fifth quickest lap time by the conclusion of the test was a welcome reward for the Malaysian team.
Yoong said, “It’s been a very productive two days for us and I’m pleased with our performance. Yesterday we had a number of problems, which amounted to a considerable loss of track time. However, they were all resolved and we were able to make substantial progress today. That’s the purpose of testing, and it’s best to sort any issues now, rather than at the race track”.
Jack Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer of the team, added, “This test has been very constructive. Although we lost a fair amount of running with technical problems, we sorted them and could move on. In fact, we made substantial progress with our data collection and interpretation, which helped us to make the level of improvement we’ve seen today. Alex and the team are working well together and I think we’re as ready as we can be for the season ahead.”
The A1 cars are now being prepared for transportation to Zandvoort, and the teams will pack all the equipment to be freighted with the car, to be ready to set up in the paddock at the Dutch track next week.
The opening round of the 11-event A1GP World Cup of Motorsport schedule takes place in the Netherlands from 28 – 30 September. Follow the progress of the Malaysian team at the website, A1 Team Malaysia.
