Di Resta second-fastestposted in F107 | 02 | 2012
BATHGATE'S FORMULA ONE ace Paul di Resta posted the second-fastest time on the opening day of Formula One testing in Spain. Only former world champ Kimi Raikkonen, returning in his Lotus-Renault, was quicker.
Di Resta, the 25-year-old from Bathgate and driving his Mercedes-powered Sahara Force India racer for the first time in relative anger, finished just 0.102secs off the top spot.
"That was a good, solid day's work," Di Resta, the Whyte & Mackay global ambassador, said today after completing 101 laps round the 2.75-mile circuit at Jerez.
"Of course it's great to finish in the top two in the timesheets, but there's still an awful long way to go before the start of the first race in Melbourne.
"Having said that, our car ran faultlessly all day, and that's testament to all the hard work the team put in over the winter at the factory in Silverstone.
"We achieved all the evaluation and test programmes we'd planned to do today, and it's definitely given us a solid platform from which to kick-on tomorrow."
See more photos of Paul testing today at Jerez
Di Resta started his day at one minute past eight when he steered his car out of the garage into the morning Spanish sunshine — though the temperature was just four degrees.
After a number of installation and evaluation laps, he clocked his quickest time early in the afternoon, clocking a best of 1m19.772s.
The Scot, who then completed a couple of longer runs, assessing tyre-wear and fuel consumption, finished ahead of more established racers.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg was third, a further 0.447s behind Di Resta, while the Red Bull of Aussie Mark Webber was fourth, 0.277s adrift of Rosberg.
And while the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo was fifth, seven-time world champ Michael Schumacher could only manage sixth.
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi took seventh, with former world champ Jenson Button eighth (1m21.530s) in his McLaren. Ferrari's Felipe Massa ninth (1m22.815s).
The 10 teams taking part in the first four-day test, return to the Spanish circuit tomorrow.
Scots F1 ace Paul di Resta: We want fifth this year
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Jim McGill