Valencia Test Day 2: Robert’s first taste of the R31
Robert took over the cockpit of the R31 today for the second day of the Valencia test.
Driver: Robert
Chassis: R31-01
Fastest Lap: 1:14.412
Position: P5
Total laps: 104
What we learned today:
– Robert ran with a new steering wheel design and felt happy with the new button layout, which makes it easier to manage the heavy workload associated with KERS and the adjustable rear wing.
– Flow Viz paint was used on the car this morning allowing the team to confirm the new aero package was working as expected.
– The team ran with supersoft, soft and medium compounds of Pirelli tyres to gather preliminary data on the new 2011 rubber.
Robert Kubica: “It’s always difficult to judge things after just one day in the car, especially with so many changes compared to last year. The main factor is definitely the new Pirelli tyres, which have a big influence on how the car behaves and we ran on some of the different compounds to start getting a feeling for them. We did have a couple of mechanical issues with the car and we couldn’t complete the entire programme, but we still did lots of laps. This is very important because we managed to complete a lot of the usual system and reliability checks needed with a new car and made sure there were no overheating issues.”
James Allison: “A much more satisfying day than yesterday. Over a hundred laps today with no significant problems. The KERS system and the DRS wing worked flawlessly and the car spent enough time on the track for us to do some set-up work alongside the routine task list of pre-season checks.”
Alan Permane’s technical programme notes:
– The focus of the programme was to accumulate mileage on the R31 and that went very well with Robert covering 104 laps. This was important because we lost a lot of track time yesterday and we’ve now completed a good amount of our system checks.
– Already we have been able to play with the set-up of the car and work on tuning the balance to Robert’s liking. He completed both short and long runs throughout the day, which gives us some useful data to evaluate this evening so that we can maximise our final day of testing tomorrow.
Did You Know?
Compared to its predecessor, the R31 has a longer wheelbase to help accommodate the reintroduction of KERS.
