French GP2 outfit DAMS have completed the final collective GP2 test at the Barcelona circuit in Spain ahead of the opening rounds of the season at the same venue on the 8/9 May.
During the three days which the team spent at Barcelona, the team aimed to fine tune their working methods with Jerome d'Ambrosio from Belgium and Chinese racer Ho-Pin Tung. They also wanted to explore new set up possibilities – which were found, and their aim was achieved.
During the second day of the three day test, d'Ambrosio set the fastest time of the day – giving the team a chance to focus on their race pace and run through a number of different technical solutions ahead of the opening rounds of the campaign at Barcelona.
For Ho-Pin, his running was compromised due to a recurring technical glitch, thus meaning he wasn't able to go on out-and-out speed runs. The team have started a complete analysis of the problem and are looking to solve it ahead of the opening races of the season.
The General Manager of DAMS, Loic Duval said about the final test: “Overall, I’m pretty satisfied with this three-day test. It has enabled our team, several of whose members have had their contracts renewed, to find its marks and study the reactions of the cars with extreme variations in the setups. Our engineers have practiced their skills with a fair amount of success. Today, we’re delighted to find how competitive we are, and we reckon we’ve found a few interesting technical avenues to explore for the coming championship. Jérôme proved his speed yesterday by setting the fastest time. Unfortunately, Ho-Pin was never able to show his full potential because of a problem that we couldn’t pinpoint. It’s frustrating, but I’m sure that we’ll put things right for the first race.”
For d'Ambrosio, the final test has been a fruitful one, as he explains: “These three days have gone off well. We’ve got through a huge amount of work and the technical orientations we’ve found are encouraging. The new people are now fully integrated into the team, and this arrival of new blood has given the whole squad a shot in the arm! My quickest time on the second day has both encouraged and motivated me as the first event will take place in Barcelona. Our aim will be to race at the front.”
For Ho-Pin, the three days didn't go according to plan: “I’m rather disappointed with these results as a chassis problem in this test session prevented me from showing what I can do. This being said, there are a lot of positive conclusions to be drawn from the three days. Firstly, the team’s approach is the right one and everybody’s found their marks. Secondly, the times set by Jérôme show that we should be among the front-runners, which is very encouraging for the coming season.”
Photo credit: Malcolm Griffiths/GP2 Media Service
