Juan Manuel Correa faces his first full-season in the GP3 series. The American driver -although he was born in Ecuador- was asked by FormulaRapida.net after the first of the two days of testing held at the Paul Ricard Circuit, in South France.
“Today’s schedule simply was focused on checking that the car works well and then we started with a bit more of work, as we do not have that much testing in this championship. The weather did not help much, as it was cold and snowing in the morning. We are trying to understand how tyres work in this temperature, as last year we didn’t run almost in these conditions”, said Correa.
After the first two days of testing, Correa finished in 14th and 15th position. However, Correa did not want to get conclusions out of them, because it is pure testing.
“The feeling with the car was okay, but this is testing, there is nothing useful until the first race in Barcelona. For now, we must keep woking to understand everything as much as we can”, continued the American.
The racing in Paul Ricard will be exciting for the Jenzer driver. According to Correa, there are a lot of overtaking spots, so he believes that races will be fun.
“I like the track. It is fast, but it has also a lot of technical corners. Racing here will be good, because there are a lot of overtaking places”.
As for the team, Correa is happy with his two new teammates: Tatiana Calderón and David Beckmann. He hopes to get along with them.
“They made changes in the team, and I think all these changes are for better. I did not know my teammates, and I do so now. As far as today, everything is okay”, explained Correa.
Correa raced seven rounds of the 2017 GP3 Championship for Jenzer, and the team decided to renew the contract. Correa did not set any specific goal for 2018, just to learn as much as je can.
“Obviously everybody wants to win, but I want to learn. Let’s see where we start the season and, from that point onwards, we will set our goals. I believe that a top-5 or top-10 is possible, and if the results are better than that, keep’em coming”, finished the 18 year-old.
Next GP3 testing session will take place at the Jerez Circuit next March 14-15. Finally, before the first round at Barcelona, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will stage the final two days of testing on Apirl 17-18. The first round of the series is scheduled on May 11-13 at the same Barcelona Circuit.