Virgin Racing is all set to begin pre-season testing after successfully completing a two-day shakedown at Silverstone on the weekend.

Having conducted a few initial exploratory laps in the VR-01 on thursday, Timo Glock kicked things up a notch on day two, completing 42 laps of the 1.8km Stowe circuit during the morning. 

During the course of the afternoon, Timo reluctantly handed over the cockpit to Lucas di Grassi, who took to the track for the very first time as a fully-fledged Formula One racer and he went on to record a total of 36 laps.

When asked how it felt to drive the car for the first time, Lucas said.....

“It feels good. It feels like home! I’m really happy and our first impressions of the car are very positive. It’s amazing what the team has achieved in such a short space of time. I think we have a strong car and a great team to get things started in Jerez. It was important for me to learn as much as possible here so I can start to put some real mileage on the car next week.”

“I am delighted that we have successfully shaken down the VR-01. To achieve 100km of running out of the box is a great achievement with only a few minor issues along the way. We have acquired some good information to feed straight back into design for the development of new parts, which we may even be testing. All in all this is a very pleasing conclusion to a memorable week for Virgin Racing,” added Nick Wirth, Virgin Racing’s Technical Director.