Motorsports Mondial

Another great day for Esteban at Jerez on day 2 of testing.

Different tire compounds and aerodynamic settings were the tests Esteban Gutierrez carried out during the second day of official GP2 training sessions. 

In the morning, Gutierrez and French team Lotus GP had a training session where the Mexican made 30 laps with a best lap time of 1:25.193, to place himself second fastest. 

“We were trying the different tire compounds that we have; there is one hard and one soft compound and that difference makes the car to react to different behaviors, so this morning we tested both compounds one after the other to see how the car reacted under the same conditions of track and settings.

In the afternoon session there were two race simulations which turned out to be very productive for Esteban and the team, as they were able to analyze how car #10 behaves and to draw conclusions from data to be better prepared for season 2012.

“In the afternoon we decided to run the race simulations with both tire compounds again to be able to assess the balance of the car, as there is a lot of work put into setting the car for qualifying while the race settings are completely different.

“Everything was quite normal and we still have some work to do because we had tire degradation, especially on the rear tires, and we have to work to improve that”, he added.

The driver – who is also a reserve Formula One driver – has one more day at the circuit of Jerez de la Frontera, in Spain, where he will continue working on the aerodynamic settings, which are not restricted for qualifying, but they are for the races.

“Last year aerodynamic settings were restricted but that limit has been removed for qualifying and practice this year, although it remains effective for the race.

“By using more downforce you have more grip which affects the balance of the chassis and you have to work to have one car setup for qualifying and another one for the race”, he remarked.