Free Practice Quotes, Bucharest 2008

"So far so good. We’ve just been using one set of tyres, taking it easy and learning the track. Things look promising. The circuit’s challenging, but I like it. In the first session, I’m already up near Christophe, so it’s a good start to the weekend. "

"The car is competitive, but this isn’t news for us, we’ve been competitive all year! This is a really good circuit for the Corvette, under braking and our car can manage the bumps as well, so it’s a good track for us. But I think the Maserati has an advantage in terms of the change of direction, it’s quicker. I do prefer this weather to Spa, but it is hot.

The race isn’t long, and the drivers don’t have long stints as normal, so it should be okay. The difficulty here is that the difference between the good line and a dirty line is a lot bigger. If the speed is faster in the corner, and you make a mistake, you have less grip on the outside and could put the car in the wall. It’s all a question of grip on this track, and I think the person who will win will be the one who makes the least mistakes. It’s similar to Spa, where you have to be consistent to win, not the fastest.

"My car’s been working well from the beginning. We haven’t changed a lot in the car, but have been trying to get some mileage and learn the track. The drivers were good and the tyres consistent. The track is basically the same as last year. You keep wanting to take the car to the limit, but there just isn’t room. The heat is manageable in the Aston Martin, but I was only in it for 25 minutes.

Since for this race, no one will really do more than 30 minutes, the heat won’t be a problem. It’s good for the heat, but I prefer the 2 hour races. This isn’t really endurance racing, and strategy no longer comes into play. You just have to set a good qualifying time and avoid the walls. In the longer race, the time it takes to change drivers does not count too much, but here, it’s very tight.

Other drivers change faster than we do, mainly due to the height difference and the architecture of the car."

"The session went quite well. I had the best time until I stopped. As it’s a city circuit, the more you drive, the more grip you get on the road and so the times improve as the session goes on. For the moment, things are going well. We worked well on the cars. Last year, the Porsches did well, and it’s going okay at the moment, even with the weight we’ve got.

Street circuits are good, but only as long as you start near the front, otherwise it’s near impossible to overtake anyone and you can lose a lot of time getting stuck behind cars. It’s different, and you have to pay a lot of attention; the slightest mistake and you’re in the wall. The one-hour format will be interesting, a proper sprint race! But also, I couldn’t see myself sitting in the car for an hour in this weather; half an hour will be much more comfortable."

"Coming from winter in Argentina, the heat here is quite a change. Things are looking good, the car’s going okay. I’ve never been on a street circuit before, and the walls feel very close here; it’s a big challenge. I’ve given up my rally career for this, because the rally took too much of my time up, whereas this is just 3 or 4 days. I’m looking forward to the final round in Argentina; it looks like it’s going to be a nice track, and I’ll be comfortable with the car by then.

With Matias, we’re improving race by race, and he’s really very fast and I need to keep up with him. Changing over from rally racing to circuits is tricky; the styles are completely different, and I miss my co-driver! But this has been good. Even though I’m new to this, my team-mates are very experienced and are teaching me a lot, giving me tips. I’m really enjoying this a lot."

Renaud Kuppens – nr 101 Belgian Racing Gillet Vertigo :

"It’s a bit hot, but it’s going all right. I only turned up during the session, so I haven’t had much time to get used to it. The car’s all fixed after Spa, all’s going well. I haven’t had time to do many laps, but we’re keeping up. For the moment, we haven’t done long relays in the car, so the heat hasn’t bothered us yet.

Thank goodness it’s two one-hour races. The car is built in a way where everything adds up to really heat up the car : we have a small cockpit, in carbon, with the engine, gearbox, driveshaft all close."

- Jacquie GROOM ,FIA - photo SRO

photos will be on automobilsport.com under PHOTOS - FIA GT