Sergey Afanasyev (fastest): “It’s nice to be at Spa, in a track so demanding, with so much history and such a unique atmosphere. I really feel blessed when we go to places like this! I wanted to use this first session to understand the limits of the car, given it is my first time here with a front-wheel drive. It was quite scary at the beginning, as the behaviour of the car is completely different from a GT or a LMP car, but then realized you can push on the throttle despite the back going in all directions! Eventually, I could be flat out at Eau Rouge and Blanchimont, it was terrific! We’ll use free practice 2 to work on the set-up and on the brakes.”
Pierre-Yves Corthals (second fastest): “Good session, but I feel we are already reaching the ceiling of the possibilities of this car, which is in 2015 specifications. It’s too soft in terms of set-up. I hope we can change the shock absorbers. My last lap was going to be the best but the rev limiter came in and that was it…”
Stefano Comini (third fastest): “Spa is always Spa and that’s very good news! Despite the 20-kg of ballast, the car handles good, although we still have some work to do and we were on old tyres. In my best lap, I had a very good tow from a Peugeot at the Raidillon, and that made me the fastest in the first sector.”
Jimmy Clairet (11th fastest): “It was a good adaptation session to both the car and the track. I have no much experience at Spa, having only raced here with the Clio Cup last year. It’s obviously not the same thing. I was very pleased with the behaviour of the Peugeot 308, a well-born car and very pleasant to drive. The chassis seems already very well balanced. I can’t say much about absolute performance with respect to other cars, as I was relatively alone during the session. We’ll continue working and I rely a lot on the team and the know-how of my team-mate.”
Gianni Morbidelli (16th fastest): “It was a difficult start, as we had a lot of set-up little problems. We definitely have a lot of work ahead of us.”
