| Wednesday, July 07, 2010 11:31AM |
I hope you enjoy the ride with me as I begin the second half of 2010 with the ART GP3 team. We're currently P2 in the championship and I'm really looking forward to the upcoming rounds. The races themselves are going quite well; however, we need to improve our qualifying. Once we can get this sorted out, I think that we can really get take hold of this championship. The pace was there in all of the winter tests, so it's just about putting everything together in the very short practice time of the race weekends. In reality, it's all about familiarization with the team and knowing the car.
Looking back over the past month or so, both Barcelona and Turkey ended up being a great event with results for myself and my ART Team. However, Istanbul is divided into two sections, the European and Asian side, and logistically a very difficult city to navigate. It was not until reservations were made that we realized the circuit was on the Asian side and we would be staying on the European side. Need I mention that Istanbul has a population of 22 million people and the public transportation is comparable to that of LA. So with everybody taking their cars, you can begin to imagine what the traffic was like. In order to go 44 miles through two central parts of the town, it could take anywhere from 35 minutes to two hours. Bear in mind that the GP3 schedule demands some late evenings and very early starts, making it even more imperative that I manage my sleep and mental preparations.
After the Sunday GP3 race in Turkey I stayed to watch GP2 and the start of the F1 race. Then I left for the hotel (before the traffic!) to chill out by the pool and have a nice, relaxed dinner. I flew back to my house in Italy the next morning and worked out with my trainer for a few days before flying to England to have a second look at the new Silverstone layout. ART had arranged for Jules Bianchi and I to drive a two-seater Radical and I must say it was a good experience to sit next to another driver as he tries to scare you as much as possible! Neither of us wanted to admit that we were freaking each other out so I guess it was lucky that for insurance reasons we weren't allowed to take any lap times! It just feels so much faster when you're sitting there as a passenger -- but in all seriousness it was really interesting to ride alongside him. You definitely have to put a lot of faith in the other guy, which was cool, and I actually picked up some things from him, particularly in the way he worked the car mid-corner in the medium-speed turns, that was really helpful. Under braking and in high speed corners, I seemed to be a bit better, so I think that it was a beneficial experience for the both of us.
Next it was to Germany, for a test at Hockenheim. There's very little chance to test in GP3, so the upside is getting to drive lots of different cars in new situations. I had raced Formula BMW at Hockenheim in 2008 but it was important to go back there again to get re-acquainted. On this occasion I drove with Josef Kaufmann Racing, the team that happened to be my biggest competitor when I raced Formula BMW. It was a bit strange the first day to talk to them about that year, especially the World Finals, to get their side of the story.
The test went very well and we were able to get up to pace quite quickly. I really enjoyed my time on track as the circuit layout suits me quite well with some very high-speed "hang it out there" corners. It was my first time in an F3 car; and it not only met, but exceeded my expectations. F3 cars, I was immediately impressed by the lateral grip and the confidence that it inspired to push the car throughout the entire lap. The only other car that I have experience to compare is the BMW Sauber F1 car.
With that said, I guess testing has become a lot of fun. I've now driven Skip Barber National, Formula Renault 2.0, Formula Atlantic, Formula BMW, Radical, Formula Renault, F3, GP3, Renault World Series, GP2 Asia, GP2 Main (different than Asia) and F1 - and I can say that I'm still on the right side of 18. Speaking of Renault World Series, I'd like to congratulate Esteban Guerrieri on his three wins in the series with ISR. That's the car I raced at Monaco. Esteban's a great guy and a very talented driver. I wish them all the best in the upcoming races.
OK, that's all for now. I'll write again from Valencia. I'm looking forward to that street circuit. I loved Monaco and I think I'm going to love Valencia between the walls.
Alexander Rossi
