Muller and Chilton tested for RML

Yvan Muller and Tom Chilton were in high spirits following successful completion of RML’s all to brief testing programme earlier this week, Tuesday at Snetterton and yesterday at Brands Hatch.

It was the first time the car has run since the final race of 2012 in Macau, but despite only two hours in the car before the opening round of the WTCC at Monza, Italy, triple world champion Muller was feeling positive: “So that was winter testing – it went quick! That’s the first time I’ve sat in the car since Macau, but the news is I can still drive! The Cruze handles well and it’s great to be back behind the wheel. Despite limited running, we have a strong basis to work from and I hope we will keep some of that advantage.”

For team-mate Chilton the testing programme was very much focused on adapting to his new surroundings with initial work at Snetterton targeting familiarisation.

Chilton said: “It’s everything I thought it would be – a very well put together car. The balance is very neutral, which makes it forgiving. At the moment I am trying to work out how I can play with the car to understand the handling and set up. Small changes on the Cruze can make big differences, which is a sign of a great chassis. The car has had so much development over the years and it feels good. I’m really enjoying being out on track and I feel like I am moulding into the team well so far.”

Ron Hartvelt, WTCC Project Supervisor summarised: “The two days have gone well without incident, although Brands Hatch was wet which gave us limited scope. At Snetterton we had
invaluable time with Yvan in the car during the morning session, primarily concentrating on getting the car right to match the conditions here. It meant we had a solid base from which to hand the car over to Tom. The main objective for Tom was to learn how the car works. We were running as many laps as we could, trialling various changes so he understood how the car reacts and responds to his style of driving. The focus wasn’t on lap times yet, that will come later, but it was important for Tom to overlay his data with Yvan to have a benchmark.”