FIA F3
Istanbul: Status GP practice report
Status GP drivers take first GP3 laps in Turkish heat Status Grand Prix's three drivers took to the track for the first GP3 Series practice session at Istanbul Park this afternoon in searing heat, and all emerged knowing that more speed needs to ...
Published: May 29, 2010, 6:14 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Status GP drivers take first GP3 laps in Turkish heat
Status Grand Prix's three drivers took to the track for the first GP3 Series practice session at Istanbul Park this afternoon in searing heat, and all emerged knowing that more speed needs to be found from their cars before qualifying tomorrow morning.
The new Formula One support-race series is ultra-competitive, and although two of the team's drivers, Daniel Morad and Robert Wickens, were inside the Top 10 during the session, their final lap times were 1.0sec off the fastest which left them ranked 17th and 15th respectively in the 30-car field.
A lack of straight-line speed was quickly identified as the problem. "The car felt good and we had a really good balance," said GMH Motorsport driver Morad. "But we were losing time on the straights - other cars were pulling away even when were in their slipstream."
The same issue was encountered by championship leader Wickens, but the cars can be run with lower downforce levels in qualifying to improve speed on the straights and get them towards the front of the grid for Saturday's afternoon's feature race.
Ivan Lukashevich, the Marussia Motors development driver, was also hampered by an engine problem which left him substantially down on power. His final lap time was unrepresentative, but he still completed 11 laps to get familiarised with the 5.3km circuit.
"It was a disappointing day, but ultimately we know exactly what we have to do," said team manager Simon Cayzer. "Certainly there was nothing Ivan could do about his engine, and we also now know the starting set-up wasn't right for all the cars. But we're not scratching our heads - we'll be strong again tomorrow."
The Drivers' View
Daniel Morad (LIB): (Best practice time: 1m49.04s; Pos: 17th).
"Robert and I were closely matched so we know there was a basic problem with the set-up, but we will modify the downforce levels overnight. It should be a quick fix and we'll be right on the pace tomorrow."
Ivan Lukashevich (RUS): (Best practice time: 1m53.22s; Pos: 29th).
"There was nothing I could do about the engine, but I like this circuit, it's good for my driving style. My first real competitive driving will be tomorrow, but I'm still positive."
Robert Wickens (CAN): (Best practice time: 1m48.97s; Pos: 15th).
"It's a disappointing day but on the positive side we know exactly where we went wrong and we can make it better."
-source: status gp
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Istanbul: Series practice report
Next article Istanbul: Series qualifying report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Robert Wickens
Robert Wickens embraces last-minute call-up for IMSA Endurance debut at Road America
IMSA
IMSA
Road America
Robert Wickens embraces last-minute call-up for IMSA Endurance debut at Road America
Robert Wickens full of “gratitude” in home race return after extraordinary industry effort
IMSA
IMSA
Mosport
Robert Wickens full of “gratitude” in home race return after extraordinary industry effort
Robert Wickens set to again compete in IMSA sprint rounds with DXDT Racing
IMSA
IMSA
Robert Wickens set to again compete in IMSA sprint rounds with DXDT Racing
More from
Status Grand Prix
Rowland to see out GP2 season with Status
FIA F2
FIA F2
Rowland to see out GP2 season with Status
The GP3 Series heads to Silverstone for the third round of the season
FIA F3
FIA F3
Silverstone
The GP3 Series heads to Silverstone for the third round of the season
Monaco GP2: Stanaway wins Sprint Race for Status
FIA F2
FIA F2
Monaco
Monaco GP2: Stanaway wins Sprint Race for Status
Latest news
Marc Marquez puts his chances of retiring within three years at 70%
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
18 min
Marc Marquez puts his chances of retiring within three years at 70%
Audi hands F3 runner-up Freddie Slater F1 practice debut
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
53 min
Audi hands F3 runner-up Freddie Slater F1 practice debut
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Brazilian GP
2 h
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe