Brake problems hamper Di Restaposted in MSPOR12 | 02 | 2011

BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA finished his opening day testing his all-new Force India VJM04 at Jerez in Spain stranded in the gravel. The 24-year-old Scot's car had struggled all day with brake problems.

"I guess it's just one of those things we all experience in test days," Di Resta, who finished the day 10th-fastest, admitted today. "I'd been struggling with the brakes on the car all day.

"It's a pity because we'd worked our way through all the main programmes we'd planned and I was just starting my last series of runs for the day.

"We'll be back tomorrow for the final day of the test. We'll get some more laps under our belt and gather more data before the next test in Barcelona later this week."

Di Resta, who complained of struggling with the brakes earlier in the day, had concentrated on evaluating the different compounds of the new Pirelli tyres, and completed a series of runs carrying varying amounts of fuel.

He clocked a best time of 1min 22.945secs on the 2.75-mile circuit, but clearly the youngster wasn't targeting quick times as the team concentrated on other aspects of the car.

While local hero, Spanish double world champ Fernando Alonso, had to content himself with second quickest, it was the Renault of Nick Heidfeld who topped the timesheets.

The German, expected to be confirmed as the replacement for the injured Robert Kubica, impressed his prospective employers with a best time of 1:20.361s, 0.132s faster than Alonso. Michael Schumacher was third quickest in his Mercedes, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren.

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Jim McGill