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Rodin’s pace has ‘come a long way’ says Loake after ‘positive’ Barcelona test
Rodin Motorsport left the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in good spirits after three days of testing where driver Joseph Loake says they have improved in both Qualifying and race trim.
It has been a difficult start to the season for the team having gone without scoring in the first two rounds. But Loake, who completed 91 laps across the final day, believes both he and Rodin have progressed and are in a good position heading into the European leg of the calendar.
“I think the test was actually positive,” he started. “We learned a lot about my driving, about the car and everything, I think the whole team made steps forward, so that was nice to see.
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“I think the pace was actually very strong as well compared to potentially what we saw towards the start of the year. I think it has been really positive, learning a lot, and the pace seems to have come a long way.”
Rodin caught the eye on all three days but most especially in the final session of the test. In an afternoon where heavy fuelled long runs where the plan of action for all the teams, both Loake and his teammate Callum Voisin set times good enough for the top 10.
However, while you cannot always read too much into the timesheets in testing, Loake does believe that Rodin’s race pace has taken a step forward.
“I'd say the race runs have been really strong out in Barcelona,” acknowledged Loake. “Obviously in Melbourne we showed really good pace as well in the races and hopefully this progress we can continue.
“In Bahrain, we were really slow in race runs, it was probably our weaker area. Of course, Melbourne and now Barcelona, we were quite quick in race runs and tyre management has been a massive improvement as well, which is awesome.
“I do think the Quali runs have improved as well to a point. But I think a lot of that is still yet to come from me. The team have made massive steps forward with the car for me, helping me become more comfortable with it and being able to extract more.
“But I think all of the silly things you get when you have only driven the car a few times - I am still making a few silly mistakes here and there. In terms of qualifying pace, I think there is more to be had out of myself rather than the team and hopefully we will be at the front soon.”
Next up for Loake and Rodin is Imola for Round 3 on May 17-19. Looking ahead to the weekend, he said: “I think Imola is going to be tricky. Obviously, I have never driven the circuit, I didn't do the post-season test, so I am behind on mileage.
“I've only got four push laps or something in Practice if I was to put a number on it before Qualifying. To be qualifying anywhere near the front is going to be a massive ask.
"So, to be honest I just want to be able to put in a decent qualifying lap and then keep building on it in the races, and then try and move forward and just see what we can get.
“I don't really want to put numbers on it or anything like that, I just want to go out there do the best I can and what will be will be.”
As for the rest of the European rounds to follow after Imola, Loake added: “Now that we are getting into the European side of stuff, Barcelona I had driven before so I kind of knew where I was going already.
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“Of course, doing the test it shows that I potentially need a little bit more running than the others just to get up to speed on the tracks that I don’t know. There are a few tracks in Europe that I haven't driven. The only ones I have are Barcelona, Silverstone, and Spa.
“So, I think it's going to be tricky on a lot of circuits. But the good thing is for tracks like Monaco for example not many will have driven there, so I'm on a more level playing field either way.
“I think Monaco is going to be a cool one, not only to drive but to be in Monaco for the F1 Grand Prix, if you take away the F3 side of things just to be there experiencing the atmosphere is going to be pretty awesome. I can't wait for the midseason part of it. There are obviously a lot of races coming up, so try and make sure we are fit enough, ready for it and I can't wait.”