Talkin Sport - A1 Team Australia Happy with Testing

A1 Team Australia seat holder, Alan Jones MBE was pleased with A1 Team Australia’s performance across the two days, with 21-year-old lead driver Ian Dyk spending an invaluable 86 laps in car during the day two session.

Jones is optimistic about the beginning of the season; “It was really important for Ian to get some quality laps in the car and that’s what he did today. We were only a second off the top times at the end of the day and we know we can make up that time by the first round. The aim of these sessions is for the drivers to get comfortable with the car and the engineer.”

After a horrific crash in the final round of last season’s A1GP, Dyk was relieved to be back in action again.

“It was great to finally get back in the A1GP car again after the big shunt at Brands Hatch in April. We were continually improving as the day progressed and the team is in pretty good shape. There is very little difference between about 15 teams out there, so this is set to be an incredibly close championship,” said Dyk. “With another two days of testing in F3 next week, followed by the A1GP test days on 18-to-19 September, we will only get faster as we head into round one. I’m happy with our progress.”

Team rookies John Martin and Daniel Ricciardo also proved their worth for their maiden tests, the two up-and-coming drivers gaining valuable track experience with times just outside the top 10, recording 11th and 12th position finishes respectively on day one. For the two newcomers, the test drive was their first in an A1GP car and an extremely pleasing result for A1 Team Australia.

"It was just a wonderful experience to be part of the A1 Team Australia rookie program. I am grateful to Alan Jones and AMSF for the opportunity," said Martin.

Martin was first out in the morning session and spent 54 laps around the testing circuit. 19-year-old Ricciardo set almost identical times to Martin, finishing just over a second behind Adrian Zaugg of Team South Africa, who set the fastest time of the day in 1:10:484.

Although just test days, seat holder Jones was impressed by what he saw.

“The team has had a successful run here at Silverstone. Dyky is improving all the time and the rookies have done exceptionally well considering it’s their first run,” said Jones.

Ian Dyk at Silverstone

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