Virgin Jerez test, day 1 report

First Outing for the MVR-02

After yesterday's successful and reliable running for a promotional filming day at the Jerez circuit in Spain, the new MVR-02 was run for the first time in an official Formula One test session at the Circuito de Velocidad today.

The track was very cold this morning and during an initial installation lap the team experienced a fuel pressure problem which confined the MVR-02 to the garage. A solution was in place by lunchtime and in warm and sunny conditions, Timo was able to run the car in anger for the first time, initially focusing on shorter stints before building up to some longer runs towards the end of the session.

By the end of the day Timo had lapped the circuit 42 times, gaining valuable information about the car's behaviour on track. The team will now analyse the data and use this information during the remainder of the test programme.

Timo Glock
"I was really looking forward to driving the new car for the first time and it's been an interesting first day. We had a problem in the morning and lost a bit of track time, but when we were up and running we were able to complete a lot of laps in the time we had and collect valuable data. It was a little frustrating to have the car in the garage this morning but putting that aside I am feeling positive about what we achieved this afternoon and from that point of view it has been a very good start."

John Booth
"It's great to see the new MVR-02 car out on track for the first time after all the work and effort the team has put into it during the winter. We recovered well from a small setback and went on to complete 42 very valuable laps. We look forward to continuing in the same vein during the rest of the week."