Johnny O’Connell and Andy Meyrick shared driving duties for the DeltaWing’s first test using the new Elan engine and Bridgestone tyres in preparation for the car’s LMP1 debut at next weekend’s 12 Hours of Sebring.
In cold conditions at Road Atlanta O’Connell initially drove the car, the former Corvette Racing driver helping the DeltaWing Racing Cars team establish a baseline set-up for the car in its new spec having also had the opportunity to drive the Nissan powered iteration before its entry into Petit Le Mans last October.
Meyrick, who will share the car with Olivier Pla at Sebring International Raceway, turned his first laps in the car in the afternoon, however, his time on track was truncated by an engine issue. The following day Meyrick added another 30 laps to his personal account in the car adapting to the unique layout of the car with relative ease.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” said Meyrick. “As a driver, when you see something as different as the DeltaWing, in your head you’re a little bit more nervous than going into a new car. But you get in and it does everything and a lot more than what a conventional race car can do. It’s still a learning process. You’re not going to get up to speed in 25 laps or so, but I feel very comfortable with it, and it’s a good place to go forward.”
“In the medium and high speed corners it was better than I thought it would be from preconception,” said Meyrick. “I expected it to be good in the chicanes and changing direction like that, and it was – it was excellent. You figure that given how light the car is. In Turn 1 and through the Esses, I was really surprised how good it was through there.”
With the experience of the two days at Road Atlanta Meyrick and the team will head to Sebring to begin the race weekend on Monday with the first test session. Testing continues on Tuesday and Wednesday before the first official practice session on Thursday.
