Jazeman is familiar with the Paul Ricard circuit, having raced at the venue in British F3 and last year in his first season of Formula Renault 3.5 racing. As Paul Ricard is a popular test track, Jazeman has also driven the circuit prior to the start of this season. Driving with ISR Racing this year, it will be Jazeman’s first visit to the track with this team.
Built in 1969, Paul Ricard was designed to be in a league of his own: its facilities even include an airstrip that made it popular among F1 teams as a test track. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who updated it to the most modern standards, creating the famed High Tech Test Track, now owns the circuit. The layout variants are so many that the number of available track solutions is 167, with lengths ranging from 826 meters to 5.8 km. The most renowned section of the track is the 1.8 km-long Mistral straight, followed by the fast right-hander named Signes. Above all, the technical sector from T11 to T15 has the biggest impact on lap times.
Jazeman, a PETRONAS Talent Programme driver, previews the event saying, “Last year I had a particularly torrid time with lots of technical issues which cut my track time at the start of the weekend and I never really caught up from there. This year I’m looking to have a good car straight out of the truck and be able to get on to developing the set up right from the first practice session.”
He continues, “It’s a great track to drive, but is definitely not the easiest to get right. It’s technically demanding, so getting the car set up to optimise it for the track is always the first challenge of the weekend. It is a flowing track and with the wide run-offs is quite forgiving, but the best lap times come when you keep a tight line through the corners and really balance the car well.
The Paul Ricard round of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series starts on Friday with practice sessions. Saturday is qualifying and the first of the two races. Sunday concludes the weekend with morning qualifying for the second races, which takes place that afternoon. Check Eurosport listings for broadcast times.
SAINGAN SEMAKIN MEMUNCAK, JAZEMAN BURU KEPUTUSAN TERBAIK
Jazeman Jaafar akan menuju ke selatan Perancis bagi menghadapi saingan pusingan kedua terakhir Formula Renault 3.5 yang melibatkan dua perlumbaan akhir di litar Paul Ricard di Le Castellet, Perancis, minggu ini.
Litar Paul Ricard yang dibina pada tahun 1969 bukanlah litar asing bagi Jazeman memandangkan dia pernah beraksi di sini di dalam saingan British F3 dan juga pada musim pertama di dalam perlumbaan Formula Renault 3.5 pada tahun lepas.
Selain itu, Jazeman turut menjalani latihan pada peringkat awal musim di litar sepanjang 5.8 kilometer yang sememangnya sering dijadikan litar latihan bagi pelumba-pelumba.
Mengulas tentang cabaran yang bakal dihadapi pada perlumbaan minggu ini, Jazeman berkata, “Tahun lepas saya mengalami kesukaran apabila berhadapan dengan pelbagai masalah teknikal yang menyebabkan tidak mempunyai banyak masa untuk berada di ata litar. Tahun ini bersama pasukan ISR Racing, saya mempunyai jentera yang lebih baik dan berharap masalah sama tidak akan berulang. Saya mahu berada lebih lama di atas litar bagi membolehkan jurutera dapat menyediakan pelarasan terbaik,” jelas pelumba dari Program Pembangunan Bakat PETRONAS itu.
Tambahnya, “Litar ini merupakan litar yang bagus namun bukan litar yang mudah untuk pelumba-pelumba. Ia agak teknikal di mana laluan di selekoh menjadi penentu untuk mendapatkan masa terbaik. Saya akan berusaha bersama pasukan bagi membolehkan kami mendapat pelarasan terbaik sebelum menghadapi kedua-dua perlumbaan akhir.”
Sesi latihan akan bermula pada hari Jumaat diikuti sesi kelayakan dan Perlumbaan 1 pada hari Sabtu. Sesi kelayakan kedua dan Perlumbaan 2 akan berlangsung pada hari Ahad.
