Formula 1

Malaysian GP Arrows Preview

Round two of the 2001 World Championship sees the Formula One circus move North West from Australia to Malaysia. Following a short break, the OrangeArrows race team fly to Kuala Lumpur and are straight to work preparing the cars for the Malaysian ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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Round two of the 2001 World Championship sees the Formula One circus move North West from Australia to Malaysia.

Following a short break, the OrangeArrows race team fly to Kuala Lumpur and are straight to work preparing the cars for the Malaysian race.

The Sepang International Circuit, a state of the art, purpose-built track is a challenging one for the teams. Its fast straights, combined with both tight and long stretching corners make it a favourite among many of the drivers too. The OrangeArrows Team had a positive race last year keeping pace with the top teams and were satisfied with the car's competitive performance, despite no points being picked up. Jos Verstappen relished last year's race with a storming start. Proving the track is very well suited to overtaking, his race was looking good until he suffered from hydraulic problems causing him to drop down the field.

Following the season opener in Melbourne where Jos Verstappen drove a solid race to 10th, after running as high as seventh in the opening stages, the team have good cause for optimism. The A22 proved to be reliable in the first Grand Prix so the race is now on to find extra performance. After the race in Australia, the OrangeArrows team ran a three-day test at Silverstone with new Development & Test Driver, Johnny Herbert, topping the timesheets on Day One. Further electrical testing was done over the following two days to resolve some of the problems that came to light in the first race.

Jos Verstappen is looking forward to his return to Melbourne as, before retiring from last year's race, he was on the pace and hoping for points...

"I really like Malaysia and always enjoy going there. It's a good circuit and I have to say that I prefer the permanent tracks to the street circuits we race on. Hopefully Sepang will suit the A22 better than Australia did as we were not happy with our performance there. We know what we have to do to improve the car. The team has been working at Silverstone between the first two races so let's hope they have found the solution." "Sepang is another circuit I have never raced on before but I have been doing my homework - studying the layout of the track and looking at data. I know it's a tough race because of the heat and the humidity but I'm confident that I am fit enough and have been training hard since leaving Australia. Obviously I am hoping for a better race than the one I had in Melbourne and will be working hard to achieve that."

Team Principal, Tom Walkinshaw, is optimistic after the testing at Silverstone following the first race...

" I think we can head to Malaysia in good spirits. Jos' finish in Melbourne proves we have a solid car and the Asiatech engine ran the full race distance with no reliability problems. The Team have been testing with Johnny (Herbert) at Silverstone this week to iron out the problems we encountered in Australia. Malaysia should suit the A22 slightly more than the circuit at Albert Park, so we're hoping for a good finish and possibly, with luck on our side, to pick up some points."

- Arrows F1

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