Gascoyne explains lack of Spyker testing 25 Jan 2007
Spyker’s chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne has defended what he calls the team’s ‘measured approach’ to winter testing, insisting it will not harm their reliability come the start of the new season.
The Dutch-owned squad, who will launch their 2007 car early next month, have not tested since the end of last season. They have only 11 test days planned before March’s Australian Grand Prix and will not be attending the ‘flyaway’ sessions in Bahrain.
However, although Gascoyne admitted the lack of running to date was partly down to Spyker’s change of engine supplier for 2007, he insisted the main reason for the limited schedule was his desire to make optimum use of the team’s relatively limited resources.
“With the late engine call switching from Toyota to Ferrari, and the late arrival of the engine, we couldn’t test earlier than this,” he told Spyker’s official website, referring the new car’s track debut, planned for February 6.
“We’ve got a programme that will make the car reliable for first few races, but we won’t reach a higher level of competitiveness until later in the season, so it makes sense to do a professional job to start with and put our resources to better use later in the year when we have a quicker car.
“We’re not a team with unlimited budget, so we have to make sure we’ve got enough the money going where it’s needed most, which is back at the factory improving the car. Races are won back at base and, as such, we’ve balanced the first half of the year to strengthening the team.”
Spyker will unveil their as-yet unnamed 2007 car at Silverstone on February 5, to be followed immediately by an exclusive two-day test at the circuit. The team’s first official test will be in Barcelona from February 12-14, with a further three days in Valencia the following week and a third and final test in Barcelona in the final week of February.
Explaining the team’s decision not to participate in the two Bahrain tests, Gascoyne added: “The effort that would go into it doesn’t really make sense. Yes, you get to check the systems work in hot conditions, but if you’ve done the groundwork properly, everything should be OK.
“Our job now is to ensure we have done enough running to make the car reliable enough to finish races and pick up points and positions wherever possible,” he concluded.
