SMP Racing by AVF fastest with Pedro Piquet in Bahrain

Only two days after the end of 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 season AVF is back on the track for the Collecitve Tests at Bahrain International Circuit. The staff managed by Adrian Valles gained the runner-up trophy both among teams and drivers – with Matevos Isaakyan who already enjoyed yesterday his prize joining the FIA WEC Rookie test with LMP2 champions of Valiant Rebellion – hit the road again with Henrique Chaves and Pedro Piquet. Chaves starred in Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup with AVF, and won race 1 the last week event; Pedro is the son of three times F.1 champion Nelson Piquet. The Brazilian arrived straight form Macau where he run in the Formula 3 Grand Prix. In spite of a red flag during the morning session, he worked very well in terms of getting used to the car. Chaves opted for testing different set-ups and he collected many infos. Two red flags have been waved during the day, free practice will continue on Wednesday after a day out.

Henrique Chaves
“We try first set of tires really soon in the morning but we had a small issue so it didn’t pay off. With the fresh tyres we’re half tenths off the pace so it was a positive feeling after going on race simulation. During the afternoon we waited until the end for the night to have some full laps, but it didn’t worked for us as we wanted, closing 4th far from the top and Wednesday we have to close this gap”.

Pedro Piquet
“I had some experience with similar cars, but this was absolutely another level. The car is really good, it has amazing brakes and a lot of power compared to Formula 3. In high-speed corners, it is pretty similar, while in the low-speed it’s really heavy. I enjoyed this experience even if I was coming straight from Macau. With the flight and jet-lag, the preparation was not 100%, but this didn’t prevent us from being on top at the end of the day. I felt really good with the team, we had some proper preparation at the simulator and seat fitting, so I’m happy with the day”.