The RGR Sport by Morand team completed two untroubled days of testing during the Prologue of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Paul Ricard on Thursday and Friday.
The LMP2 outfit completed a ‘significant’ amount of laps of the French circuit, with Team Owner/Driver Ricardo Gonzalez being joined by team-mates Bruno Senna and Filipe Albuquerque in the #43 Ligier JS P2.
“I think we should be happy with our result,” said Gonzalez. “Yesterday we had a great result, even after trying a few different things and pushing on new tyres.
“This morning we experimented with the set up and then in the afternoon we focused on long runs, like what we would do in a race. This is why we didn’t get on the top of board today which is fine because we are working to be as prepared as possible for Silverstone. We followed our work schedule for the weekend and I’m happy with it.”
Former Formula 1 driver Senna felt the test went well for the team, and believes they have good information to take to Silverstone for the opening round of the season next month.
“It was a nice, but long last day of the Prologue here at Paul Ricard,” said Senna. “Filipe took charge in the morning doing a lot of set up work for Ricardo and myself to get in the car for the rest of the afternoon. We did some long stints, which was important for getting the feel of the tyres.
“Overall this was enjoyable, and I think it went pretty well. For me, this was a great experience to learn about these tyres and how the car will perform in a long stint.
“For Silverstone we will have some of the bits and pieces put together with all the information we gathered this weekend. Looking forward to getting to Silverstone with the winning set up.”
Portuguese star Albuquerque felt the whole team are working better following the two days in France as they attempt to perfect everything ahead of the start of the season.
“Two full days of testing at Paul Ricard was great to get to know the Ligier better,” said Albuquerque. “This is a tricky track for us and we learned a lot about Dunlop’s 2016 tyre spec as well as the aero.
“Bruno, Ricardo, and myself continued to get closer as teammates, practiced our driver changes, and did all the things we needed to do before the first race in Silverstone.
“I think we are ready to go. Even if we didn’t show P1 in the results, no problem because we are ready for Silverstone.”
