Spyker: Barcelona Test Roundup

By Bigpip
May 3 2007

The Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team yesterday concluded a three day test at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. The test didn't quite go to plan with Adrian Valles putting the car into the barriers and a drop or two of rain at the circuit delaying the teams progress.

Giedo van der Garde started the test on Monday morning, evaluating hydraulics and two types of tyres for the team.  Adrian Valles took over in the afternoon, continuing the evaluation.  He did however damage the car quite heavily which brought the day to a premature end.  The team had only brought a single chassis to the circuit and had a mad dash to repair the car ready for Adrian Sutil to take over on Tuesday.

 Tuesdays running was limited to just 11 laps as the team continued to repair the car.  The afternoon saw some heavy, thundery rain which meant a lot of time sitting around in the garage waiting for a good spell to go out.

Wednesday saw Christijan take the wheel and complete 66 laps.  A late mechanical issue forced the team to end the day and to pack up and return to base.  The circuit remained open today to make up for the lack of running on Tuesday but Spyker decided they needed to regroup for the Spanish Grand Prix in two weeks time.

Monday Team Quotes:

Mike Gascoyne.
'Our two test drivers did a good job today, however the day was unfortunately spoilt by the accident at the end of the day when Adrian had an off in turn three. It looks as though he had a problem with the car through turn one and then lost control through three. Thankfully he is fine, but the car is quite damaged. Hopefully we'll be able to get it going again for tomorrow and continue the programme with Adrian Sutil.'

Giedo van der Garde
'This morning we concentrated on testing tyres and hydraulics, and got lots of useful data. We had some problems with the hard tyres, which didn't give a lot of grip on the cooler track, but with the medium tyres it was a lot better. From the last time I was in the car back in Valencia in February to now, you can definitely feel the improvement in the car and I can tell I have improved too. The track was very slippery after the rain yesterday, so it did take me a while to get up to speed again with the car but I got a good rhythm towards the end of the laps. It's great to be back in the car.'

Adrian Valles
'This afternoon we continued the work on hydraulics and tyres and I think we made some progress. The lap times were good, considering the tyres were old, and we could do some pretty consistent times. Of course I am not happy about the accident - I don't know what happened in turn one; the car moved and then I thought I'd take it easy to get to the garage, but then the car came away in turn three. Overall though I think we can be reasonably positive; I was really comfortable until the lap before the crash, and enjoyed it without making any mistakes.'

Tuesday Team quotes

Mike Gascoyne.
'Unfortunately due to the inclement weather conditions, we could only do a limited number of laps. The boys did a fantastic job working through the night to repair the car from yesterday's accident, so thanks to them, but due to a shortage of spare parts, we didn't want to risk too much. Hopefully we will have much better conditions tomorrow in the morning when Christijan takes over and we'll be able to get some more representative information.'

Wednesday Team quotes

Mike Gascoyne.
'We had a fairly useful day today with Christijan. We made some improvements to the car's handling with some different damper settings and the car was fairly consistent in the longer runs, so we can be confident of a better performance in the race next week. We stopped running early when we discovered a small problem with the rear of the car, but it's not something that will affect us next time out in Barcelona. Overall it was a useful test and we can now look forward to the Grand Prix.'

Christijan Albers
'We started out quite well this morning. We were working on some race set ups and I was quite happy as we improved the car's handling. I did a lot of laps and I tried to push really hard before trying some new tyres in the afternoon, but then unfortunately we had a failure. It's a shame as it took our afternoon away, but I think we can be pleased with today - overall it was a good day's work.'

The team's next test will be at Paul Ricard from 15 - 18 May. One car will be used; Fairuz Fauzy, Markus Winkelhock and Giedo van der Garde will drive for half a day each, Adrian Sutil and Christijan Albers for one day each.  During the next test the team will prepare for both the Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix. Ricard circuit organisers are using two variations of the track to simulate conditions of both Monte Carlo and Montreal

Testing data
Air temperature: High of 19ºC
Track temperature: High of 28ºC
Weather: Bright sunshine in the morning, overcast in the afternoon
Laps completed: Christijan Albers
Track: Circuit de Catalunya, Spain
Best lap time: 1min 24.870

F8-VII testing data (since 1 January 2007)
Total km run (testing): 5,510 kilometres
Total days: 12
Christijan Albers: 2,330km in total
Adrian Sutil: 1,560km in total
Fairuz Fauzy: 712km in total
Giedo van der Garde: 534km in total
Adrian Valles: 373km in total