Barcelona, Spain (March 24, 2006) – Sean McIntosh’s first official outing for Team KTR in the World Series by Renault ended successfully yesterday with the 20-year-old Canadian posting the sixth fastest time, from a field of 30 cars, in testing at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. The two-day Spanish test marked the start of Sean’s regular 2006 commitments following a series of impressive performances over the winter, including a memorable last-to-first victory in Indonesia, racing for A1 Team Canada in the A1 Grand Prix of Nations.
Learning the characteristics of his new-spec. 425bhp, 3.5-litre Dallara Renault and the 4.73km Circuit de Catalunya, home to the Spanish Grand Prix, Sean spent Wednesday’s sessions getting to grips with both while forging his relationship with the Belgium-based crew from Team KTR. Running predominantly on used Michelin’s, Sean’s attempts to bang in a ‘flyer’ on fresh rubber towards the end of the afternoon were thwarted by a series of red flags but the 2005 Formula Renault UK Vice-Champion was suitably pleased with the progress made on day one.
Thursday’s sessions allowed Sean to further settle into his new surroundings and he reeled off a total of 60 laps over the two sessions. Setting a fastest time of 1m27.714s in the morning he then bettered this with a 1m27.624s in the afternoon to finish the test sixth overall on the timesheets and a place ahead of KTR team-mate, Britain’s Robbie Kerr.
Sean McIntosh:
“We made real progress throughout Thursday and the afternoon session in particular was pretty tidy. I’m starting to develop a relationship with my engineer, Paul Heath. These things always take a bit of time but I think we’re starting to click already which is encouraging. I’m getting a feel for the car now and can start to make changes to it so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do next time out at Le Mans.”
Kurt Mollekens – Team Manager:
“Overall I’m quite satisfied with this week’s Barcelona test. By the first race meeting at Zolder we want to aim higher but there were factors to consider for both Robbie and Sean, chiefly neither had tested the new World Series by Renault car and they hadn’t been to Barcelona before, a fairly challenging circuit physically. Our aim for this test was for both drivers to learn as much as possible and go for quality running, we’ll hit qualifying mode at a later stage. We’re all happy as a team, the guys set competitive times and we’ll look for more of the same when we go to Le Mans.”
The historic Le Mans Circuit in France hosts the next pre-season test, 1st-2nd April, before the World Series by Renault kicks off in earnest with the opening two rounds at Zolder in Belgium, 29th-30th April.
ENDS – www.seanmcintosh.com
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