25.07.2003 NEW SIGNINGS NICOLAS KIESA AND GIAMMARIA BRUNI GET FIRST RUNS FOR MINARDI AT FIORANO
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25.07.2003 NEW SIGNINGS NICOLAS KIESA AND GIAMMARIA BRUNI GET FIRST RUNS FOR MINARDI AT FIORANO |
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FAENZA, ITALY, July 25, 2003 – Recent European Minardi Cosworth signing, Nicolas Kiesa, had his first run for the Faenza-based Formula One team today, completing a total of 310 km at Ferrari’s Fiorano test track. The aim was simply to allow the 22-year-old Danish driver to familiarise himself with this year’s European Minardi PS03 and its systems, while completing the necessary number of laps at racing speeds to allow him to qualify for his FIA Super-licence. His next appearance for the team will be at the Hockenheimring, in one week’s time, when he makes his Formula One debut at the German Grand Prix. European Minardi’s newly signed test and reserve driver, Gianmaria Bruni, also carried out a brief shake-down run of 30 km in the PS03 at Fiorano. He will take part in the two-hour test session on Friday morning at Hockenheim. NICOLAS KIESA “The first impression I had was on the installation lap, when I could feel that the car was very powerful. I hardly touched the throttle, and the performance was amazing. The biggest surprise today was undoubtedly the brakes, which were incredibly strong in their response. Once you get to know how to use them, though, they’re reasonably easy to work with. I tended to use the 100-metre board as the main reference point, and then adjusted my braking accordingly. The speed you can carry in the corners is also very impressive compared with an F3000 car. In all honesty, I was quite surprised that I was physically able to do the full 300 km today without any problems. After the first 200 km this morning, I had a slightly sore neck, but having finished the full distance, I now feel much better than this morning and could easily go on driving. It has been a really great experience, and I can’t wait for Hockenheim next weekend.” GIANMARIA BRUNI “It has been really exciting, like using an amazing PlayStation! I could do only a few shakedown laps today, but I really enjoyed driving the car and managed to get a good feeling for it very quickly. The guys were all very helpful and took any pressure away from what was my first experience of F1. I can’t wait to get in the car again next week.” PAUL STODDARD “The team is very pleased with Nicolas’s performance over the 310-km distance he covered today, and although he only carried out a few shakedown laps, Gianmaria also did an excellent job and appeared to get to grips with F1 performance very quickly. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Ferrari, for granting their permission to use the Fiorano facility at short notice, thus enabling Nicolas to complete a Grand Prix distance prior to arriving at Hockenheim, as well as to the other Team Principals, for agreeing to today’s one-off programme during the period of the testing moratorium.” Minardi Testing Details
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