CATERHAM ENJOY STRONG TEST
Today, the pre season test took place. Each team fielded one driver, except for marussia who were not present at the test. Here is the driver list:
McLaren – Alfie
Ferrari – David
Lotus – Jeff
Mercedes – Kaz
Sauber – Oli
Williams – Bradley
Caterham – Harry
These drivers each qualified for (15 minute sessions) and raced in three tests (or were meant to)
TEST 1
CATALUNYA
Qualifying saw Oli get a dominating pole, with Alfie lining up alongside, a second off of Oli. On the second row was Bradley who was a further second off and Harry, who was pushed out of 3rd in the dying moments by Alfie, and he was a further half a second. Then came Jeff lining up alongside David, with Kaz bringing up the rear.
Race
The start was chaotic. It saw Harry get off to a decent start and Oli and Alfie made contact, and collected several other drivers. At turn 5 several drivers ran wide, then on the straight towards turn 8 Jeff and Bradley (I think) were forced to take the escape road. At the end of the lap Alfie was in front and battling Oli hard for position. The rest of the race was dull (for me anyway) but in the end, it finished with Oli, then Harry, then Alfie (I think) to make up the podium spots.
TEST 2
MONTRÉAL
Qualifying
Quali saw Harry retire very early on. However he was not available for questioning at the time. Alfie had provisional pole until Bradley snatched it by a second. Then Oli took pole in the dying minutes by half a second. Bradley tried to beat the time, but couldnt quite manage it. The order was Oli, then Bradley, Then Alfie, David, Kaz and finally Harry. Jeff had other obligations and therefore did not participate.
Race
The start was not as bad as the first test, the 2 on the front row got away cleanly, however Alfie was sandwiched between David and Kaz. Seeing his opportunity, Harry took and outside line to move into 3rd. Then at the hairpin or the straight after it, Oli and Bradley made contact. Harry passed Oli then as he went to pass Bradley accidentally squashed them both into the wall. He was planning on conceding the position back, but then Bradley rammed him at the final chicane, which was much to Harry’s amusement. David in the process had snuk up behind and got second, with Bradley 1st and Harry 3rd. However, coming out of T1, Bradley spun, moving Harry, David and Alfie and possibly more up a place. Alfie was safely behind for now. Harry was all over David’s gearbox, and nearly crashed with him several times. Then at the hairpin Harry took a wide entry and blasted almost all of his kers to cleanly pass David before the chicane. Sadly, David spun at the wall of champions. Harry made a mistake at T1 and that let Alfie all over his gearbox. He managed to keep Alfie behind all lap, then on the straight turned up the fuel an blasted the kers, and took the win. Alfie was a close second and I believe Oli 3rd (correct me if I’m wrong)
TEST 3
MELBOURNE
Qualifying
For the final test, qualifying was a whitewash for Oli. Bradley lined up alongside followed by Alfie. On the final row were David then Harry. Kaz was not there. (once again correct me if I’m wrong)
Race
Before the race started, Oli had a technical fault which caused a DNS to be file next to his name (rumour has it that the fuel system was faulty and unsafe ;P) this meant the slot for pole was empty. At the start David remained where he was while Harry, Alfie and Bradley all went through T1 fine. Harry tried to keep up, having struggled for pace during the whole 3rd test, and span in doing so. As his tyres were overheating he span again. He was 16 seconds off of Alfie and Bradley by now. However, the next lap he was just 8 secs from Alfie. We believe Alfie was involved in a tangle or just span off. As David was suddenly disqualified as Harry went to lap him. The race finished Bradley followed by Alfie followed by Harry, who was probably only a second off the pace but a bad mistake in sector 2 ruined his laptime.
We thank you very much for reading, and the full detailed stories and interviews will be aired soon. We look forward to seeing you all at the first race in Melbourne, goodbye.
