Motorsports Mondial

Jerez de la Frontera, Spain – Mexican driver Esteban Gutierrez is ready to participate in the GP2 official test sessions, which practically initiates the 2012 season of the Formula One feeder series.

The 4.428 km long circuit of Jerez de la Frontera, in Spain, is the stage where team Lotus GP and Gutierrez will do the necessary testing to have a better season start.

“Finally, we have begun after our off-season preparation, where we made a lot of improvement in every aspect such as the physical condition, and took time to analyze what happened last year to try and apply the findings on the new season.

“This season we will be able to put all of that in practice in a very concrete manner in every aspect, as we now have one year experience and I think that will be important; we have to focus on our selves and on the training to evaluate and achieve the improvement we want”.

Official training sessions are very good for the driver, as they represent the beginning of a journey to reach the objectives they have set for 2012, second year for Esteban in GP2.

“The objectives for the year are to be consistent and reach a high level of competitiveness as well as to improve the technical details so we can be strong in qualifying as well as during the race.

“The truth is, that these sessions are very useful because you can test different things in technical terms, you can try new developments although some tests are restricted, but we will be able to further develop part of our suspension and there we could find a little advantage”, he remarked.

Gutierrez expressed that after his GP2 debut last year, he arrives to 2012 with more self confidence and very motivated to have a better year.

The Marussia F1 Team is disappointed to confirm that the planned first test of its 2012 race car – the MR01 – has been delayed as a consequence of not passing the final FIA crash test.

All cars are required to pass 18 FIA-observed tests for homologation to be granted. Despite the fact that the MR01 has passed all 17 of the preceding tests, the regulations require the car to have completed all of the tests before running commences.

The team will now not take part in the final pre-season test in Barcelona later this week (1-4 March) and will instead focus its efforts on repeating the crash test at the end of the week.