SPEAKER_00 0:00

Dan, free practice at Croft and a decent session for you. I think a very decent session actually. I think we came with you know we have gone well around here in the past and you know we're coming off a fairly strong weekend. A weekend where we developed the car over the course of the day into what was a better package by the final race, there's no doubt. Okay, I was on the hard tire then and you know that was a different day, but it was clear that we'd made some steps with the car. And we came here determined to start on that front foot. You know, don't let's not go back to what we know, let's come with what we've had on and let's build from there and let's get and get ahead of the curve. And I think we did that. Um the car felt absolutely phenomenal out of the box. Like um openly said to my engineer, This is a this is a fantastic car you give me straight away. Um really confident in it. Um, lots of front end traction, it just you know, as a driver within a few corners whether you've got something you can work with, and I knew straight away. So, you know, the first run on the medium was really competitive. You know, I don't think many people had mediums on. Um you know, it's kind of opening practice. We use mediums because of just where we are with tire, and I could tell how competitive we were. I then went to this a used soft later on, um, you know, and it was you know certainly not a great soft, and um we're right up there. So for me it goes really well. Um yeah, really happy. I think there's a couple of little bits that we'll get better at, and there's a couple of little bits I think we could do some help maybe from Torker and the circuit, you know, especially turn one, it's um it's difficult for us out there, you know, um, with the amount of sort of sand and gravel that's been dragged on the track every other lap, it's it's a bit of a moving goalpost. I think we just need to find a way to make sure it's a fair game for everyone in the qualifying. Um but I know they're on with that at the moment. So yeah, I think we're in a very good place.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Because of the the fast elements of the circuit, which there are plenty, and then the tight twisting ones where you need the down force and the brake balance, is this one of the more difficult circuits to find the ideal setup for?

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Um I I think it is a difficult circuit to find the right setup for. I think I think you're right in telling it's a balance, you know, you you've got to have the confidence out of the back through the high-speed sweepers that the car's gonna stick with you and under you, you know, certainly into places like Barkfroft and on the entry at Sunny Inn, they're very, very high speed and quite daunting at any circuit we go to. Um but the final sector is really slow. Um, you need a very good front end, it needs to be pointy, it needs to rotate, it needs to have good traction. Those two usually don't go hand in hand. You know, you can have one, but it's hard to have the other, just the nature of a front-wheel drive touring car. So um so no, striking the right balance, I think that's something we've we've worked out. You know, we'd have two days testing here this year, I think we had two days here last year. You know, I think we do have a strong package here, um, and I think we've got drivers, certainly in this new generation of car with the saloon now, um, who maybe can hang on a little bit better in the high speed, knowing that it'll pay us back in the low speed, and that's what we've got to live with. And also that's better for tire life ultimately. So, yeah, we'll see what uh we'll see what the day brings. But um there's a few spots of rain in the air a minute ago, isn't it? Yes, I felt that as well. Um I hope not, you know, with the strong start we've had suggest I I hope we get to keep going in the drive.