Marussia Virgin to miss 1st test

Posted by Mikel on January 25th, 2012 at 11:55am

News from the Marussia Virgin Racing team is that things have slipped and the new car will most likely be on track at the second test in late February. According to team boss John Booth, they had hoped to field the car in the first test so rookie Charles Pic could get some seat time according to an AUTOSPORT interview:

“We had been looking to take part in that (first) test with the 2011 MVR-02 for the purpose of providing Charles (Pic) with some valuable running to assist with the preparation for his debut season,” team principal John Booth told autosport.com.

“This was with a view to introducing the new car, the MR01, at Barcelona two weeks later.”

At this point, let’s hope the team make good use of the time and create a car that can finish anywhere but last like the 2011 effort. With Pat Symond’s consulting and the driving talents of Timo Glock and Charles Pic, I’m still holding out hope that this team can make a difference in 2012 and claw its way into contention with Caterham. The decision to miss the first test wasn’t planned, however, and perhaps rushing the car isn’t the answer:

“Unfortunately our programme has slipped and there seems little point in fielding the new car before we can optimise the run plan for it,” said Booth.

“Whilst this is not ideal…we will at least get some important running with the new car ahead of Australia and hopefully gain more constructive track time than we might otherwise have achieved had we rushed the car out for the second test.”

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