Canadian racer and former Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve completed on Tuesday his first of two days of testing a NASCAR Nationwide race car in South Carolina in preparation to the NAPA Auto Parts 200 to be held in Montreal.
Villeneuve was behind the wheel of Team Braun's No 32 Toyota Camry on Carolina MotorSports Park's road course.
"It was very hot, something like 100 degrees F, and extremely humid," said Villeneuve to Auto123.com.
"But despite the heat, things went well. It was a good day of work. We checked more things than the team is used to. We made some big changes to the suspension, the brakes, the balance of the car and a few more things to see how that influenced the handling of the car."
However, the Carolina MotorSports Park's road course is quite different from the Gilles Villeneuve circuit where the Montreal race will be staged.
"There are no tracks that are really similar to the Montreal circuit," Villeneuve said. "There are no long straightaways and the top speeds we reach here are not as high as in Montreal. So, there are no big braking zones. However, the team told me that brake performance and wear have not been a concern in Montreal last year."
"We did not work on the aerodynamics because there's not much that can be done. Anyway, the aerodynamics do not play a crucial role on the road course in comparison to a superspeedway. We especially worked on not overdriving the car. That's very easy to do. From the inside, the car doesn't seem to be quick. But it is. The key thing is to find the fine line between driving the car fast and over driving it. The moment you're over driving the car, it becomes undriveable, and slow."
Testing resumes today. Villeneuve and Team Braun will test several set-ups, components and tires.
Villeneuve was behind the wheel of Team Braun's No 32 Toyota Camry on Carolina MotorSports Park's road course.
"It was very hot, something like 100 degrees F, and extremely humid," said Villeneuve to Auto123.com.
"But despite the heat, things went well. It was a good day of work. We checked more things than the team is used to. We made some big changes to the suspension, the brakes, the balance of the car and a few more things to see how that influenced the handling of the car."
However, the Carolina MotorSports Park's road course is quite different from the Gilles Villeneuve circuit where the Montreal race will be staged.
"There are no tracks that are really similar to the Montreal circuit," Villeneuve said. "There are no long straightaways and the top speeds we reach here are not as high as in Montreal. So, there are no big braking zones. However, the team told me that brake performance and wear have not been a concern in Montreal last year."
"We did not work on the aerodynamics because there's not much that can be done. Anyway, the aerodynamics do not play a crucial role on the road course in comparison to a superspeedway. We especially worked on not overdriving the car. That's very easy to do. From the inside, the car doesn't seem to be quick. But it is. The key thing is to find the fine line between driving the car fast and over driving it. The moment you're over driving the car, it becomes undriveable, and slow."
Testing resumes today. Villeneuve and Team Braun will test several set-ups, components and tires.