From gp2series.com
Didier Perrin answers some questions about the new car which will compete starting next season.
GP2 Series: Didier, you are well under way with the test programme for the new car: what have you done so far?
Didier Perrin: So far we have done a lot of tests to validate the car itself, and over the last two sessions we have started an intensive programme involving Pirelli, GP2 and F1: we still have a lot to do, at least six more test sessions on different tracks, but we have already made some very big steps together. In the last test we worked in parallel with the 2009 Toyota F1 car and we were running the same tyres, and the first conclusion is that the behaviour of the tyres is very similar between GP2 and F1: this is very good news, as it means that potentially we can run the same tyres in both series. This is very important for GP2 and for Pirelli, because it means that our drivers could be able to run on exactly the same tyres as in F1, which is very useful for their future.
GP2 Series: You’ve been through this process twice before: are you happy with the progress so far, and has your previous experience helped with this programme?
Didier Perrin: I’m very happy so far because we’ve already obtained the results predicted in the wind tunnel at Dallara, so in terms of performance the car is doing exactly what we expected it to do. The other very good news is that the reliability is already here: in the last two days in Mugello we achieved more than 1,000 km, which means almost 3 race distances per day for 2 days in a row, which for a new car at this stage of development is very encouraging. This is the third time that we’ve developed a new car, and we can take the experiences we learnt with testing the previous 2 generations of car: we are able to focus on the improvement that we want to bring for the next 3 years, and having these previous experiences really helps to push the programme forward. However, during these sessions, we are not necessarily looking for optimal performance. Our goal is to keep the car difficult to drive because we want our Series to be a drivers’ championship, meaning that the best of them will, in the end, win.
GP2 Series: What are the next steps in the programme?
Didier Perrin: We will now concentrate on the tyre programme, but obviously we still have some improvements to make on the car: the car is not frozen yet, but after every session we give the go ahead to our partners Dallara, Mecachrome and Hewland for the production of components we are testing, and we are freezing more and more components all the time. We are already ahead of schedule, because the tests have gone very well on reliability and performance, and this helps us to concentrate our efforts more on tyre development.
GP2 Series: Are there any other changes to come in the programme?
Didier Perrin: We are lucky that we have the advantage of a long development programme, which allows us to get a very experienced driver in the car: we tested with Giorgio Pantano in the driver’s seat this week and will have him also during next session. This has a lot of advantages, because different drivers have different ways to use the engine, to use the gearbox, to use the brakes, so it’s always good in a development car to get the opinion of different experienced drivers. We started the development with Ben Hanley, who has been really great and has a lot of experience in GP2 and GP2 Asia, and we now have the pleasure of having the 2008 GP2 champion to help us: he is obviously a very experienced driver, and he will help us to expand our data in a different way.
Didier Perrin answers some questions about the new car which will compete starting next season.
GP2 Series: Didier, you are well under way with the test programme for the new car: what have you done so far?
Didier Perrin: So far we have done a lot of tests to validate the car itself, and over the last two sessions we have started an intensive programme involving Pirelli, GP2 and F1: we still have a lot to do, at least six more test sessions on different tracks, but we have already made some very big steps together. In the last test we worked in parallel with the 2009 Toyota F1 car and we were running the same tyres, and the first conclusion is that the behaviour of the tyres is very similar between GP2 and F1: this is very good news, as it means that potentially we can run the same tyres in both series. This is very important for GP2 and for Pirelli, because it means that our drivers could be able to run on exactly the same tyres as in F1, which is very useful for their future.
GP2 Series: You’ve been through this process twice before: are you happy with the progress so far, and has your previous experience helped with this programme?
Didier Perrin: I’m very happy so far because we’ve already obtained the results predicted in the wind tunnel at Dallara, so in terms of performance the car is doing exactly what we expected it to do. The other very good news is that the reliability is already here: in the last two days in Mugello we achieved more than 1,000 km, which means almost 3 race distances per day for 2 days in a row, which for a new car at this stage of development is very encouraging. This is the third time that we’ve developed a new car, and we can take the experiences we learnt with testing the previous 2 generations of car: we are able to focus on the improvement that we want to bring for the next 3 years, and having these previous experiences really helps to push the programme forward. However, during these sessions, we are not necessarily looking for optimal performance. Our goal is to keep the car difficult to drive because we want our Series to be a drivers’ championship, meaning that the best of them will, in the end, win.
GP2 Series: What are the next steps in the programme?
Didier Perrin: We will now concentrate on the tyre programme, but obviously we still have some improvements to make on the car: the car is not frozen yet, but after every session we give the go ahead to our partners Dallara, Mecachrome and Hewland for the production of components we are testing, and we are freezing more and more components all the time. We are already ahead of schedule, because the tests have gone very well on reliability and performance, and this helps us to concentrate our efforts more on tyre development.
GP2 Series: Are there any other changes to come in the programme?
Didier Perrin: We are lucky that we have the advantage of a long development programme, which allows us to get a very experienced driver in the car: we tested with Giorgio Pantano in the driver’s seat this week and will have him also during next session. This has a lot of advantages, because different drivers have different ways to use the engine, to use the gearbox, to use the brakes, so it’s always good in a development car to get the opinion of different experienced drivers. We started the development with Ben Hanley, who has been really great and has a lot of experience in GP2 and GP2 Asia, and we now have the pleasure of having the 2008 GP2 champion to help us: he is obviously a very experienced driver, and he will help us to expand our data in a different way.