With the second of the 2011 World Series by Renault (WSR) taking place in Spa-Francorchamps over the weekend, LRGP’s very own Bruno Senna called in to let us know how his appearance at the event had gone.
Bruno, how have you enjoyed your weekend at the second WSR of the 2011 season in Spa?
BS: It’s been great fun for me, I’ve been driving the car up and down the iconic circuit doing some donuts, burning some rubber and making some noise. Generally, we’ve been able to get some people to see the car up close. I was also able to get up close with the fans, have some photos taken, sign some autographs for them so all in all it’s been quite a different experience for anyone who doesn’t have the chance to get to Formula 1 races.
Have you been able to get out on the track on both days?
BS: I got out onto the track three times on Saturday and three times on Sunday. You know, Spa is one of my favourite circuits - Eau Rouge is a very challenging corner normally, but it’s even more so when you’re taking it from the wrong way around at 270km per hour.
WSR is a very popular series, with around 100,000 fans attending each of the weekends. How did your demo appearance go down with the fans there?
BS: Everybody was enjoying it, there was a great response to it. A lot of fans came into the paddock, where there were a lot of F1 cars. I think it was a great success.
You say Spa-Francorchamps is one of your favourite circuits, it is known as quite a challenging one too. What is it about the circuit that appeals to you?
BS: By its nature, it’s a very high speed circuit and attacking it pays dividends. Most of the other circuits are technical, but this is one of the classic ones where the harder you push the more lap time you can take off so it’s really is great to drive on the track and to push the limits of the car.
World Series by Renault is known as a breeding ground for future F1 stars - have you seen any drivers there who you think will be appearing in Formula 1 over the next few years?
BS: There are quite a few drivers who are doing very well in World Series, there is a strong fight for each race and the championship is going to be quite tight so I think there’ll be some good competition throughout the year and we’ll see some of them coming up to Formula 1 for sure.
Off to Turkey next week, how do you think LRGP are doing so far and what are your predictions of how things will go as we enter the European races?
BS: I think we had a very good start to the Championship, then maybe a tricky weekend strategically in China. But we’re learning pretty well how to understand the techniques and we can do quite well over the next few races. Turkey will be another challenging weekend with a very high tyre wear and challenging track, so we’ll see how the strategy and the tyres will play this coming weekend.
Source Lotus Renault GP