Feb.25 (GMM) Andy Soucek could make his track debut as Virgin’s new 2010 reserve driver this week.
The new British team is the only outfit to have held off naming a definite driver lineup for the last four-day test of the winter, to kick off in Barcelona on Thursday morning.
It is believed Virgin is prepared to give the reigning F2 champion and Spaniard some time at the wheel of the VR-01 this week.
But the team’s first priority is to solve the reliability issues that dramatically limited running at Jerez last week.
Virgin has confirmed that “new parts” for the troublesome hydraulic system will be debuted on the car this week.
“We look forward to receiving updated parts for the Barcelona test, which we expect to fully resolve the problem,” confirmed technical director Nick Wirth.
Meanwhile, contrary to suggestions that Fairuz Fauzy will not test the T127 this week, Lotus has confirmed that the Malaysian test driver will be in the car on Thursday.
With Jarno Trulli to then drive on Friday and Saturday, it means Heikki Kovalainen will only get one more day of testing prior to Bahrain.
