Vietoris the quickest in Barcelona tests
19.09.2008 - In today’s pre-event tests held at Barcelona, Christian Vietoris (Mücke Motorsport, 1:06.896 min) proved to be the only of the 29 Formula 3 Euro Series drivers who succeeded in clocking a lap time below 1:07 minutes. At the 2.977-kilometre Circuit de Catalunya, the Mücke driver defeated the likes of Nico Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix, 1:07.082 min), Mika Mäki (Mücke Motorsport, 1:07.180 min) and Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix, 1:07.260 min).
At the end of the two 90-minute sessions, Vietoris was happy with what he had achieved at the wheel of his Dallara-Mercedes. “Considering the fact that this has been my very first outing on this circuit things went really well,” he said. “Apart from that it has been a normal day of testing - no serious incidents.”
The second-quickest driver of the day was current Formula 3 Euro Series Championship leader Nico Hülkenberg. By finishing second, the 21-year old prevented a Mücke Motorsport one-two, with Mika Mäki, the second Mücke driver, having to settle for finishing third on the combined time sheets of the two test sessions. “I encountered numerous electronics problems, the display on the steering wheel just didn’t show any information,” revealed Hülkenberg. “Furthermore, we’ve got to keep on working on our set-up that hasn’t been optimum, to date. But mo problem - we’ve got time to do so in tomorrow’s practice session.” With Jules Bianchi finishing fourth, all the top-four positions were held by ART Grand Prix and Mücke drivers respectively.
Fifth position was surprisingly clinched by Dutchman Henkie Waldschmidt (SG Formula, 1:07,258 min). “I’m getting on better and better,” he said. “At Brands Hatch I also was able to match the pace of the front-runners. In the meantime, I have gathered a good deal of Formula 3 experience and that’s the reason for this upward trend.”
The following positions on the time sheets were secured by Waldschmidt’s SG Formula team-mates Yann Clairay (1:07.312 min) and Richard Philippe (1:07.331 min). Philippe switched to SG Formula just days before the Barcelona weekend and seems to feel comfortable as member of the French squad right from day one. “Having a fast team-mate is great for Henkie and me,” said Clairay.
At the same time, Daniel Campos-Hull (HBR Motorsport, 1:07.411 min) proved to be the quicker of the two Spaniards on the Formula 3 Euro Series grid. By setting exactly the same lap time as Erik Janis (Mücke Motorsport, 1:07.411 min), he tied with the Czech for eleventh position.