Hand Shows His Worth On Penultimate Test Day

With just one day to go, Joey Hand aided BMW Motorsport‘s title defence build-up by helping them to secure the top of the time sheets once again for the third successive day in a row, as the preparations for the drivers and teams present at Hockenheim again were frought with varying conditions. The American driver, now in his second season with Munich, set his fastest time of 1:33.284 on his 124th and final lap of the day, which also made him the busiest as well.

Audi Sport’s Edoardo Mortara, who secured two wins last season, was pipped by just 0.105 seconds, but was a notable improvement as well, with Britain’s Jamie Green rounding out the top three, ahead of defending champion Bruno Spengler, who was ahead of his countryman, Robert Wickens, who was fastest out of the Stuttgart stable.

Spengler said that the wet and dry running made it interesting, as set up changes were difficult to implement overall, but mentioned that it was difficult for everybody: “I’m happy with our achievements despite the adverse weather conditions and think that we made good progress. And we still have got tomorrow, haven’t we? Possibly we will have the opportunity to test on a dry track, on Friday. But altogether, I’m just delighted to be here at Hockenheim where I secured the title, last year. Being here brings back a lot of fond memories, particularly as we are going to contest the first race of the new season before long. After the qualifying we will know where we stand as a team. I definitely highly motivated and just can’t wait for the first round of the season and for seeing my fans.”

Wickens said it was also very productive for himself and the team, as well as being incredibly realistic about the first race weekend: “I felt really good in the car and learned a lot about its behaviour in different conditions. After testing today I feel even more excited about the coming season.”

So with just one day of testing left for Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz to go until all the data is analysed, the drivers are comfortable with their cars, the fans eagerly await the return of Day X, when it all starts over again.