Zeta Corse and Merhi end F.Renault 3.5 testing on a high

As the F.Renault 3.5 pre-season spell drew to a close today in Jerez, Zeta Corse completed their testing programme with a very successful day for both Roberto Merhi and Roman Mavlanov. After focusing on race-trim performance in the first two days of the Spanish test, Zeta’s technical staff used the morning session to fine tune the car for qualifying and try a couple of low-fuel runs with Merhi, who was eager to try and make the most of the car’s performance. The outcome was an amazing 1’26″163, that was enough to put the talented Spaniard in 6th place and and was just 2 tenths off the day’s overall best.
While Merhi went for performance, Mavlanov kept focusing on race simulation, and in the afternoon his commitment paid dividends: on a hi-fuel run that saw him adopt the same setup as Merhi, Roman posted a time that was just 0″5 shy of his team-mate’s best, an amazing feat for a rookie driver.
 
Roberto Merhi: S1 – P6; S2 – P13
“Today we did a big step forward in terms of pace, but I wasn’t surprised as so far we had never really set-up the car for raw performance. Today we did, and I was able to challenge for the top spots straight out of the box, it was a great feeling. We worked hard and it paid off, especially a tweak we did at the rear of the car, our traction improved dramatically”.
 
Roman Mavlanov: S1 – P21; S2 – P15
“Everyday I’m getting better, and today made no exception to the rule. I’ve started to feel really confident with the car, especially when it comes to finding a good race pace and lap around that mark steadily. Sure, there’s still a long way to get where I want, but the outcome of today’s race simulation clearly proves that the learning process is going on and working well”.