The first-ever pre season test of the i1 Super Series was held today at the famous Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Below are the official laptimes from the test:
Pre-season test results
| 1. Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 1:00:505 |
| 2. Giancarlo Fisichella | 1:00:557 |
| 3. Karun Chandhok | 1:00:660 |
| 4. Jean Alesi | 1:00:688 |
| 5. Matthias Lauda | 1:00:688 |
| 6. Neel Jani | 1:00:695 |
| 7. Armaan Ebrahim | 1:00:840 |
| 8. Parthiva Sureshwaren | 1:00:853 |
| 9. Vitantonio Liuzzi | 1:00:868 |
| 10. Zaamin Jaffer | 1:01:153 |
| 11. Alex Yoong | 1:01:191 |
| 12. Aditya Patel | 1:01:258 |
| 13. Sakon Yamamoto | 1:01:374 |
| 14. Mika Salo | 1:01:784 |
| 15. Raj Bharath | 1:01:925 |
| 16. Ashwin Sundar | 1:02:153 |
| 17. Akhil Khushlani | 1:02:399 |
| 18. Vishnu Prasad | 1:02:509 |
| 19. Sailesh Bolisetti | 1:02:584 |
| 20. Ameya Walwalkar | 1:02:665 |
| 21. Cyndie Allemann | 1:02:753 |
| 22. Abdul Ahmed | 1:02:781 |
| 23. Gaurav Dalal | 1:02:787 |
| 24. Chirag Malhotra | 1:03:113 |
| 25. Amittrajit Ghosh | 1:03:849 |
| 26. Phiroze Billmoria | 1:04:165 |
Interestingly the top 10 drivers were separated by less than a second, which is a good sign that the Indian Racing League will be a closely fought one. However, one must note that the drivers and cars were not weight equal since there was no ballasting undertaken. This would have worked in favour of the lighter drivers. Also, the fuel loads of each driver was unknown, which would have also had some impact on the laptimes.
Karun Chandhok, Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaran were the three Indian drivers to break into the top 10. The slowest of the international drivers was Mika Salo who ended his session in 14th and the only female driver in the test, Cyndie Allemann, was classified 21st. The laptimes might not be indicative of the actual speeds since the drivers were briefed to make use of this test session to understand and adjust to the Radical SR3 car.
Post the session, all drivers reported good feedback regarding the SR3. While most drivers thought it was too slow, the grip levels and ease of driving were two aspects that were widely highlighted and accepted. More on i1 Super Series…
For those new to motorsport and the concept of i1 Super Series, do read my introductory piece here – Indian Racing League is launched, welcome the i1 Super Series
You can also get to know more about the series by listening to the i1 Super Series podcast.
Most read i1 Super Series topic on my blog: Should Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok drive in the i1 Super Series