• Jerez Test, Day Two

Van der Garde keeping expectations in check

ESPN Staff
February 6, 2013 « C32 'a good baseline' - Hulkenberg | Engine problem cuts Razia's debut short »
Giedo van der Garde got his Caterham career underway this week © Sutton Images
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New Caterham driver Giedo van der Garde is confident his team has made progress during his first two days in the car at Jerez, but he is remaining realistic about the CT03's chances this year.

Van der Garde was named as a race driver at the start of the month and got straight down to work in Jerez this week with back-to-back days in the new car. He said it was immediately obvious that the team has made progress with front-end grip and he is confident he has found a good avenue to develop rear-end grip too with Charles Pic at the wheel over the next two days.

"I have to say the front end is quite strong," he said. "Last year they were suffering with it so I'm quite pleased with how it supports everything in the high-speed [corners]. Today we worked quite a lot on the rear end and I think we found something in the afternoon. This could be promising and hopefully Pic is picking up tomorrow the rest and he can work on the next steps."

However, van der Garde is keeping his expectations in check as Caterham embarks on its fourth year in the sport without a single point from its first three seasons.

"I don't expect that we have found a lot of stuff and we will run in the top ten," he said. "We are still a young team and a lot of new people have come in and our new CEO [Cyril Abiteboul] is putting the right people in the right places. Hopefully we can make a good step during the year, but at the moment I am quite pleased with the car and how the team operates and how we work. So let's see at the next test where we are and what we can bring up next."

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