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Racing
Engineering has completed its intense pre-season testing program
and is eager to see its drivers compete at the first race weekend
of the 2004 Spanish Formula 3 Championship held on the 24th and
25th of April at the circuit of Albacete.
The
results obtained on the tracks of Jarama, Estoril, Valencia, Albacete
and Jerez were satisfying for the drivers as well as for Racing
Engineering’s technical staff. Miguel Angel Galvez,
Racing Engineering’s F3 technical director, stated, “We
are happy with the results so far. We tested a lot, which not only
was very useful in order to try new things on the cars, but also
to get the drivers used to the car and team. We tested around 350km
per test day and therefore can look back to more than 3,000km of
pre-season testing. I think this season in the Spanish Formula 3
Championship will be tough as the level of drivers is really high.
Nevertheless we are confident that we are prepared to keep Racing
Engineering’s level of performance up as in the previous years
and will for sure not make it easy for our competitors.”
Borja
Garcia, the young Spaniard, looks back onto very intense weeks,
where he was switching between Racing Engineering’s Toyota
Dallara F3 car and the F3 Euroseries car. While after his great
debut in the F3 Euroseries test in Valencia Borja faced several
technical problems during his test days in Adria and Hockenheim,
during his tests in the Spanish Racing Engineering outfit, Borja
continued underlining his outstanding talent. He was the one to
watch out for, set the rhythm at the tracks and lapped top-times
at all tests. Borja shortly before the new season starts announced,
“I am very happy about our tests. On every track I was already
faster this year than the year before. I am happy that the championship
starts soon. I am also very content with my engineer Miguel, my
mechanics and my teammate Maria. Steven is a fast guy and it was
fun to test with him. My car also gets more and more to the point
how I really like it, so I think we are very well prepared for the
first race.”
Maria
de Villota, the Spanish driver causing a lot of attention in
the paddock due to being the only woman in the Spanish Formula 3
Championship, clearly met her pre-season goal. She wanted to improve
as much as possible before the first race, get to know the car and
team really well. Maria definitely succeeded in achieving her aim
given the lap times of the last test in Jerez. Maria is looking
forward to the races in Albacete and if she can keep her up-going
form, she is a candidate for the podium.
The
man dominating the test days of Jerez, was clearly the fast Irish
driver Steven Kane. He adapted to the tracks of Albacete,
Jarama, Estoril and Jerez very quickly and improved his performance
continuously. Steven Kane, after finishing the Jerez test stated,
“I really like the circuit of Jerez. It is the best track I’ve
ever visited. It is the ultimate driving experience with the high-speed
corners. Generally for me it was a brilliant first experience with
Racing Engineering at the track and I was very fast. Racing Engineering
is a very professional team that could compete in any international
championship making its drivers win.”
But
Racing Engineering’s drivers not only had to make a lot of
kilometers in the cars, but also came to Racing Engineering’s
workshop to actually work on their cars. Alfonso de Orleans,
Racing Engineering’s president, explained, “We really
like working with young drivers and try to supply them with the
best surrounding we can. Driving a racecar is just one part they
have to know. Our drivers come to the workshop to work on the cars
together with their mechanics and engineers. Getting to know how
their car works and like this being able to give better feedback
when on a racetrack as well as knowing how a race team functions
when not on the track are only some of the reasons why we make this
obligatory for our drivers.”
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