Points make prizes ! - Barcelona Formula Renault test
Tuesday, December 20, 2011 at 4:48PM Courtesy of Marussia Virgin Racing the top three drivers from the 2011 Formula KGP Championship and top rookie travelled to Barcelona to test Formula Renault on the GP track.
The test was run by Manor Competition who provided two Formula Renault cars for KGP Champion Michael Simpson, 2nd placed Tom Fawcett, 3rd placed Mark Litchfield and top rookie Jake Hughes.
Sunday was spent with seat fittings and pairing two drivers to each car. Simpson and Fawcett took car 18 and Litchfield and Hughes car 42. The Renault uses paddle shift gears and after studying some in car footage and gear information for each corner the drivers went on a track walk - some what longer than any kart circuit taking nearly an hour to get round !
Monday morning 9 am saw Simpson and Litchfield take the track completing 10 lap runs at a time before swopping with Fawcett and Hughes.
The KGP drivers did not disappoint and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. All four drivers lapped with competitive times and adapted from karts to cars very quickly. The biggest challenge was working the tyre temperature and adapting to the down force created by the wings on the cars especially under braking.
In all each KGP driver completed 50 laps with improvements on lap times all day as well as some small adjustments being made to the cars setup such was the pace of the drivers in such a short period of time.
The Catalunya GP track was an awesome circuit for the drivers to experience a single seater for the first time.
Formula KGP would like to thank Marussia Virgin Racing and Manor competition for this fantastic prize giving a real insight to single seater cars and an unforgetable day for all four KGP drivers.