Wed 16 Nov, 2011
Abu Dhabi young driver test: Day 2 - Wednesday 16th November 2011
Driver: Luiz Razia (BRA)
Chassis: T128-04
Number of laps completed: 89
Best time: 1:43.944
Jody Egginton, Chief Race Engineer: "As with all the drivers throughout the test, we spent most of the morning getting Luiz used to the car and up to speed with the Pirelli tyres. We also spent the morning running some damper work, looking at the correlation with our ride and handling models back at the factory, and also looking ahead to next year. The programme this morning was successful and we received some good feedback from that session.
"This afternoon we completed the second part of the Pirelli tyre test as part of the 2012 programme, running their three prototypes over short runs. Again, we received good feedback which we'll take back to the factory and work on analysing with that data, looking ahead to next season.
"At end of day did we did a performance run on the supersoft tyres, but unfortunately a red flag meant we lost the quickest lap of that programme. We sent Luiz out again to give him a few more laps, however the tyres were past their peak so we could not extract the times we wanted. But all in all it has been a good day and Luiz has performed very well and given valuable feedback without putting a foot wrong. A good day all round."
Luiz Razia: "This morning we did a lot of damper work for the team looking ahead to the 2012 season, with many adjustments and evaluation of each run. We also did a performance run, which was very good as I was able to pick up speed quickly on the first flying lap.
"Most of the afternoon was dedicated to the 2012 Pirelli tyre programme, and we did some evaluation on that, looking at how the tyres behaved. We also did some performance runs this afternoon with a baseline setup, but unfortunately the red flag meant that I couldn't complete the best lap possible. The car balance felt good and I improved on my times so I'm quite happy. What I wanted to achieve was to do as many laps as possible so I was happy with 89 laps in total.
"The last time I drove the T128 was in Barcelona; the car has improved a lot since then and I feel Pirelli have done a great job with the tyres. I feel that the car is easier to drive and I felt more confident to push and get the most out of it that I could.
"89 laps under the belt shows how much you can learn in just a day. Perhaps that's why the rookies struggle a little in F1 initially. There was so much to learn today, and an awful lot to think about! It's about trying to give good feedback and also think about what's happening, and also get the best out the car, which of course you're not used to. So it's so important for us to have this test, and this opportunity doesn't come along very often, so I'm extremely grateful and happy to get the time in the car."
Credit: Team Lotus (www.teamlotus.co.uk)
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