South Africa’s GP3 hopeful Raoul Hyman enjoyed another positive day in the series’ second and final day of testing at Estoril in Portugal Thursday as he wrapped up his program with Campos Grand Prix. The team concentrated on set-up and development work on a day affected by changeable weather with heavy rail, hail and brief bursts of sunshine.
Hyman topped the time sheets on different occasions through the Thursday, but his two new tyre runs were compromised by a DRS failure on his first run and then it rained on his second attempt, which compromised his quickest laps. “In all it’s been a very positive test,” Raoul concluded. “One thing we certainly showed is that Campos has a very quick car – even in the heavy rain, when almost everyone took to the track with new wets, we were either fastest, or second.
“We were a little unfortunate with the weather – it started raining on my hot lap and the DRS failure is just one of those things – it’s the first time the teams are using DRS, so we may as well iron out all the gremlins now. “So the time chart does not tell the entire story – we have a quick car and we have the measure of the champion team.”
Pressed on his future, Hyman was positive on his chances for a race drive this year: “We worked very well to further develop and improve the car over these two days as we continued to tweak the set-up in both wet and dry conditions, and the car was faster at the end. “Campos appears to be pleased and I think I did a good job for the team.
“I am most grateful for the opportunity and I am ready to race and I believe I can challenge at the front, but I can only do that if my management team puts the budget together, so it’s up to them and our sponsors now.