Navarra testdays took a great start today on the Spanish circuit despite a weather which did not help the young drivers to go through the day easily. Alternating from rain to wind, to dry to rain again, the youngsters had to focus much more to be able to stay on the track.
SIMO LAAKSONEN, FINLAND
« Those tricky conditions are clearly good for our learning path. The French F4 car I drove last year is clearly different, the F4-T014 is much faster and has more grip, so it was hard for me to adapt. But I try to learn as quickly as I can »
From the three morning sessions, Russian Vladimir Atoev set the fastest time, lapping the track in 1.54,6, with the Finn Niko Kari right behind him and the French Gabriel Aubry closing the top 3.
GABRIEL AUBRY, FRANCE
« The car is completely different from what I have experienced until now, I spent the morning learning where to improve and catch up the quicker guys out there ! »
As usual, the afternoon session started with a qualifying simulation, mounted with rain Hankook tires, the drivers launched their bolids 15 laps which showed Vladimir Atoev victorious, with Niko Kari on his tail, Gabriel Aubry P3, Aleksanteri Huovinen and David Beckmann closing the top 5.
As the day was ending, the rainy race simulation started, with Atoev in pole position. After a mistake from the Russian, Niko Kari took advantage to snatch the lead while Aleksanteri Huovinen and David Beckmann passed Gabriel Aubry. Finnish driver Simo Laaksonen finished his first race with the F4-T014 P6 followed by Matveev, Maslennikov, Mavlanov and Sitnikov.
ALEKSANTERI HUOVINEN, FINLAND
« It was my first time with the car under wet conditions. It has not been a perfect day, but finally turned up to be good in the race. It does not mean I am very satisfied with my performance and I will keep on working to improve more and more tomorrow »
Day 2 will start tomorrow at 10am local time.