Mercifully, the rain that had drenched southern Spain didn’t follow them up to the Circuit de Catalunya, allowing Lucas di Grassi to finally get a bit of mileage under his belt.
The Brazilian managed 31 laps before a spin at turn nine bought his day’s work to an early conclusion. Nick Worth, Technical Director of Virgin Racing, explained the cause of the crash: “Unfortunately when we were running some experimental control settings on the car, which were adversely affecting its handling, this caught Lucas out on the entry to turn nine resulting in a spin and contact with the barrier. We’re going to need to spend the time before tomorrow replacing some broken suspension and wings.”
Timo Glock had better luck the following day, completing a very useful 52 laps (setting a best time of 1:25.942) and the team were able to continue debugging the car, in particular the hydraulic problems that had caused such mischief in Jerez. The pit crew got to go through its paces with a successful pit-stop practice session and, a small gripe with the throttle pedal aside, things were looking good.
Or so it seemed. However, Timo’s final day of running was hit by a gearbox problem and a cut fuel system seal (which meant the team had to replace the engine). Nick, upbeat as ever, was looking to the stars. “We’re hoping that our planets will align tomorrow to allow us a smooth final day of testing before we head into our debut Grand Prix in Bahrain in two weeks’ time.”
On the final day, Luca ran 49 laps and clocked a best time of 1:26.160. However, that hydraulic problem just wouldn’t go away, again limiting the amount of race work the team could complete – and, crucially, putting the blockers on a planned run-out on the super soft tyres. “We have new components designed to fix the hydraulic issue on their way for the Bahrain race and we’re looking forward to putting that particular story behind us,” sighed Nick. “Now both Virgin Racing and Wirth Research have a busy two weeks preparing both race cars and spares for our debut in Bahrain.”
