AVF focus on setup work as Jerez WSR testing kicks off

A sunny and warm weather welcomed Adrian Vallés and his staff today in Jerez, where Renault Sport have elected to hold the final pre-season test for the 2014 F.Renault 3.5 championship. On a track that has witnessed many historical moments for F.1, the Spanish team presented an unchanged line-up compared to last February’s Alcaniz test, with Zoel Amberg on the #20 car and Beitske Visser on the sister #19 car.

Considering that three full days of running are available and that Jerez is one of the most challenging circuits in the F.Renault 3.5 calendar, AVF opted for a cautious approach on Day 1 and carried out a race-oriented work programme with both cars, limiting the use of new tyres. At the end of the day Amberg was P20 overall (16th quickest in the afternoon), but without mounting any fresh rubber. Visser, who had never run in Jerez before, used just one set of new tyres early in the afternoon, and closed the day in P21 a few tenths off her team-mate.

Beitske Visser: S1 – P23; S2 – P20

“I’m quite happy with what we did today, I’m getting more and more confidence with the car, and each day of running makes it better. Today we fitted new tyres early in the afternoon when the track wasn’t at its best, but it’s fine as laptimes aren’t our primary aim. Even from a physical standpoint I can be happy with myself, I’m working out a lot and I can see the results, even on a track with hi-speed corners such as Jerez my neck is completely fine”.

Zoel Amberg: S1 – P19; S2 – P16

“We have plenty of time to work on quick laps in the next couple of days, so today we focused on setup work with used rubber. We didn’t use new tyres at all and that considered I can be happy with what we achieved today, as fresh Michelins make a huge difference here and I’m just a few tenths off the pace”.