December 16, 2002
It was a useful 4 day session for the Phoenix F1 team as the Austrian track proved to be a difficult learning process. Having run pretty much trouble free in the last 3 tests, this one showed up some potential reliability problems with the package as a whole.

Day 1 saw Andy Graydon take to the track for two 15 lap stints and no qualifying runs in sight. The 6 speed gearbox was being used for the last time, but that was down to getting available track set-up time to hopefully help out Irisarri & Kelder come days 2 and 3. However, Andy had difficulty getting the car to go quickly.

"I struggled big-time today, the rear being very loose. I could not push the car at all, hence our quickest lap being the slowest of the day. However, we ran with fuel all day, whereas some of the other teams definitely ran light". A best of 1m12.056 was the result.

Of slightly more concern were a couple of engine blow-ups for Andy early in the session. It seems that in the search for more power the reliability of the engine has been affected. The team confirmed it would be running a 7 speed gearbox for the first time on Day 2.

Antonio Irisarri therefore took control of the car on Day 2, having to get used to the 7 speed box AND working on set-up due to Andy's Day 1 problems. A best of 1m10.432 was over 1.5 seconds quicker than Andy had gone before, and Antonio had the following to say after Day 2 had finished: "I focused on race set-up with more wing set-up than Jan and Andy will use, so the times are more alike so the engine have a lot of torque. It is very good for race trim, the gearbox is good but we have to learn more to suit the correct gear ratio. This circuit looks easy to drive but have some parts that you can made mistake easy and lose time, so the team are progressing a lot in BHP trim and chassis works".

Day 3 saw Jan Kelder put some very quick and consistent laps in yet again. Race set-up was the order of the day, with a couple of quick laps providing a time of 1m09.953, just under half a second quicker than Irisarri. Jan's comments were positive: "First thought of me, going testing on the A1-Ring in Austria during this winter season, was to take a rally car with me! Last summer I was testing here on this track with high temperatures. But the Austrian officials had done a great job and the track was completely clear of snow. So the planned test session could go on only with uncomfortable low temperatures. Andy took care of the first session day, making reconnaissances and trying out setup and giving Antonio and me the opportunity to use his information.As our team has to work on reliability in near future and to get experienced with a new kind of tyres, there was planned a session of three long stints in race trim and in fact there was no time for testing in qualification trim. But on my request I was allowed to do two laps in qualify trim and lower fuel on board after the first part of the session. I managed rather good lap times in race trim with a good consistency too and the Renault engine was functioning excellent. I am still missing some power compared to the top teams. We were using the new 7 gearbox for the first time, but I could handle that without any problems. But the Austria track needs power. In my fastest hotlap (the latter of the two) I had a good first section time, but in the last section I made a little mistake, so my time could have been about 0.2 sec faster. Tomorrow Andy is taking over. I wonder if he can repeat his shocking performance on France track last week. Every racefan in Holland is talking about that fabulous lap".

Day 4 dawned with Andy using the 7 speed box for the first time. He took some time getting used to it, and used Jan's set-up - amended to suit his driving style. A best of 1m09.903 was the result, and improvement of over 2 seconds on his Day 1 stint. "The car performed much better today, thanks to the last two days of improvement from Antonio and Jan. We definitely lacked some BHP on this track, and the handling of the car was not to our tastes - we'll have to study the telemetry back at the factory over the next two weeks to find out the reasons for that. However, we all drove our quickest laps within half a second of each other, so I think we got the maximum we could from the car in it's current state. 1.2 seconds off the pace of the Stealth's sounds bad, but there is much more to come. Renault will be working on our agreed strategy of power versus reliability before the season opener in Melbourne, and I was happy to see the new 7 speed box make a reliable debut."

Andy then confirmed that over the Christmas period he would be concentrating with his Commercial Manager, Daniel Manzo, on attracting further sponsorship for the team. There could also be a further test driver added to the ranks come the next test at Silverstone in early January. "I won't name names", said Andy, "but he has been recommended by Jan as a quick driver. Another Dutchman in the team, it seems like we have been accepted as a team by the Dutch nation!! Apparently they are going wild at the times we set in France. Let's hope we can build on the euphoria in 2003".