Motorsports Mondial
Rossi Performs at Paul Ricard
Photo: Drew Gibson/GP3 Media Service
Game on for the new GP3 Championship
Circuit Paul Ricard, located in the south of France and kissed by the Mistral Mediterranean winds, was fully embraced by the young Californian. The 18-year old served notice of his intent and talent in the first pre-season testing past week, setting the fastest overall time and heading the time charts in three of the four sessions.
Two days of testing took place on the 3D section of the track. This is 3.853 Km of the circuit which uses the final section of the famous Mistral straight going into the Signes corner.
The Nevada City native, who is now headed back to Bahrain for the GP2 Asia season finale next weekend, was kind enough to take some time and answer our questions.
Q: Was the track configuration same for both days.
A: “Yes, and it was the same layout that we used in GP2.”
Q: Please compare the GP3 car to GP2 machine
A: “In terms of driving style, there is very little difference. In terms of pace, there is quite a large step between GP3 and GP2.
“The good thing is that it seems as though the Pirelli tire is going to react very similar to the Bridgestone which will prove crucial in preparing drivers for the step into GP2.”
Q: Was adjusting to turbo power challenging?
A: “Not at all. Renault and Oracle have done a fantastic job to ensure that the boost doesn’t engage as soon as you apply power in the middle of the corner.”
Q: Are you surprised you were fastest in 3 of the 4 sessions? A: “No, I was quite quick and comfortable here in the GP2 car so I assumed that things would go very well for this test, especially since I was driving for a team of such high caliber.
Photo: Drew Gibson/GP3 Media Service
Q: What is you overall impression of the test session and the depth of competition?
A: “I think that the test went very well for not only me and the team, but for the series as well. The debut of the car was fantastic and I was really impressed with the amount of reliability and technical support over the two days.
“As for the competition – it was quite high and, as expected, most of it came from my teammate, Esteban.
“ART Grand Prix led every session and I knew that the benchmark from the session was always going to come from the car right next to me. With that said, Carlin put in some good results as well so it will be interesting to see what develops over the next two test sessions.”
F1weekly.com would like to congratulate Alexander and
“Team Rossi” on his fine performance in GP3 pre-season testing. All the best this weekend in Bahrain.
For more information on Alexander Rossi, no doubt America’s next and best hope in Formula 1, we invite you to visit his website www.alexanderrossi.com
For complete testing results please visit the recently launched GP3 websit www.gp3series.com
— Nasir Hameed
Racing regards from California
Copyright: Drew Gibson/GP3 Media Service