I read somewhere that you can save 0.1 seconds on each gear change with a sequential gearbox, I don’t know how true that is but it’s certainly a saving. It’s an option to evaluate but because we’re the only rear wheel drive car it can be hard to find some parts. We’re looking into making some changes and we’ll have to see when we can make those changes, but we are always looking for ways to improve and make the steps forward that we want to make.
Our other big problem is the lack of testing we were able to do before the season as I explained in my other columns. We decided before we went to Ireland that we’d be treating the weekend as more of a test session because the testing curfew during the season restricts what we can do away from the race meetings. However, the car has so much potential, as it has shown with Dirk in the WTCC, and – while we haven’t had the testing we wanted - I’m learning more and more about it and so is the team. It’s been hard work having to do that testing in public but we said all along that
Brands Hatch and Mondello were the two circuits that wouldn’t suit us so at least they are now out of the way. We can now go to
Oulton Park having collected some positive data with the car and having made some more giant leaps forward.
Oulton Park should suit the car much better, in a way its more like the WTCC circuits that the car has been used to with its fast, flowing bends, and I’m looking forward to it. It’s a race circuit that I know and love and it’s amazing how much better you go when you like somewhere and are confident. We’ve won a lot of races at Oulton in the past, don’t get me wrong I’m not expecting to win this time, but we are positive about the weekend and it is somewhere that I feel we can start moving up the grid. On a track I know like the back of my hand, we don’t have to worry about learning the track and the car at the same time, and it means that we can focus on what the car is doing and then put right any issues that might arise.
