February 01, 2018

 

The Belgian team scored a 1-2 - for the glory, if not points - in the first pre-season test in Sakhir as team came to grips with 2018 machinery... and fickle brakes.
A full complement of 42 drivers, three for each of the 14 Superleague teams, took to the track over the 12 hours of testing. There were no points at stake, but the chance to finally test the 2018 cars in an official environment - and all teams took their chances out in the desert.

Jarl Teien set the fastest time of the day with 1:27.953, 0.445s ahead of teammate Petar Brljak. Fran Lopez on Hawkeye completed the virtual podium - the only other driver within a second of Teien.

Mark Hutchinson gave Flag-to-Flag the distinction of being the best of the debutant teams out of the blocks, while Alex Siebel was the leading driver for reigning constructors' World Champions ACR Zakspeed.

Most drivers completed around 50 laps, with the exception of the Wauters drivers - potentially testing their Quasar engines on the new manufacturer's first outing - and a hard-working Eric Stranne, who clocked the highest mileage of the day with 119 laps.

The early test was a good occasion for drivers to acquaint themselves with the cars. While not many pushed their 2018 competitors to the limits on this first day, the session was an occasion to test the various components. In particular, several teams reported issues with overheating brakes - something their engineers and designers will need to address ahead of the second test.

Full results: here.

The next pre-season test will take place in Sepang on February 8th.

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