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After a series of fruitful test sessions and
thousands of kilometres successfully
completed in Mugello, Le Castellet and
Barcelona, Italian race car constructor
Dallara Automobili's latest single-seater,
designed for the new GP3 series, is now into
the production phase. |
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After a series of fruitful test sessions and
thousands of kilometres successfully completed
in Mugello, Le Castellet and Barcelona, Italian
race car constructor Dallara Automobili's latest
single-seater project, designed for the new GP3
series, is now into the production phase. The
technical definitions of the new GP3 car have
now been fixed and production has now commenced.
The first cars
will be delivered to the ten GP3 teams on schedule in
January 2010. The car’s reliability has been established
throughout the programme, most notably in Le Castellet where
the car completed 278 laps in two days, along with its
performance, which is significantly ahead of that shown by
an F3 car. Given this, the main focus of the latest
development test has been to define the tyre compounds
together with Pirelli, running with GP2 Series 2009
runner-up Vitaly Petrov at the wheel.
The goal was to
help the Italian manufacturer gather enough data in order to
define compounds for the 2010 season, with one final
development test sessions remaining to fine-tune the wet
tyres. At the latest test Petrov said: “I’ve had a really
great time at the wheel of the GP3 development car: it’s
fast and really fun to drive. Because of the impressive
torque delivered by the turbo charged engine the driving
style thus required is not so different from the one needed
in GP2. This has been a great experience for me: developing
the car and working closely with Pirelli on the definition
of the tyres gives a global vision of the Series’ future,
and I am convinced that the GP3 Series is the best way to
prepare for the next step: GP2.”
Technical
director Didier Perrin added. “We are right on schedule, not
only with our development programme but also with the
production process. I am quite satisfied with the level of
competitiveness of our car and with its overall behaviour on
track: its driveability is very similar to a GP2 car, which
was one of our main goals. The reliability of the
development car is impressive – we completed over 500 km per
day during the last test sessions - and helps us to work
intensively with Pirelli, who now have all the data needed
to define the soft and medium compounds for the 2010
season.”
“The final two
test sessions will allow us to complete even more kilometres
to fine-tune the hard and wet compounds. The tyre
characteristics are crucial to the success of any given
single-seater category, and I am confident that Pirelli will
provide the teams with tyres that will allow strong
performance and deliver a great show. “Soon the young
drivers will have to showcase their skills both in speed and
in managing the tyres, just like they will have to do later
on in GP2 and F1. I cannot wait to see it all happen at the
first race in Barcelona in 2010!”
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