Josef Newgarden – First Day of Testing at Silverstone

Written by Team USA. Posted in Driver Blogs, Josef Newgarden

Published on October 30, 2008 with No Comments

Silverstone, England (October 30, 2008) — Conor and I have been itching to get back on track ever since our final day at Brands Hatch. Well, after a week off, that day has finally come! Today was the first day of testing for the prestigious Walter Hayes Trophy held at the immaculate Silverstone circuit. Silverstone is a track I have always wanted to drive on and today was my first chance.

All entrants were divided into four groups for testing and were given three sessions with one open session at the end of the day. Conor and I were placed in the same group and headed out for our first session together. The track was damp in a few corners which made it difficult to hit them at full speed. The entire track is really fast and flowing and has some unique corners.

The second session started out looking promising but soon became a waste. After completing the first lap, someone laid down a line of oil around the entire track. When I first hit the line at full speed into Copse corner, the rear suddenly snapped and felt as if I had broken something. I did another lap attempting to diagnose the problem by applying and releasing the brakes but soon realized most of the corners were coated in oil. The session became useless so we decided to park.

Our third session of the day was the most productive and equally a blast to drive. The track was completely dry and oil-free the entire time. I was able to get loads of laps in and work on setups for the weekend. Hitting Copse corner for the first time at full tilt was really impressive and showed how fast that corner truly is. You can either downshift one gear and immediately return to full throttle or take it flat out and use all of the road – and the runoff area at the exit – which is not really allowed, and you run the risk of being penalized.

Ending the day was an open session that seemed nearly useless as the track was getting much colder and traffic became a big factor. After doing a couple laps, we decided to call it a day and gather our thoughts for tomorrow. I feel pleased with the progress the team has made so far and am looking forward to the weekend.

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