Winter Testing

Kirkistown 25-11-06

Drivers: Paul Heavey, Mark Read, Daniel Polley, Cars: Chassis DH0706, DH0806

The Leastone team brought two cars to Kirkistown for the third of their pre-Christmas tests. This test was a much more intensive affair for the team, compared to the previous test at local track Mondello Park, which was more of a winter shakedown. The team’s latest addition, Mark Read sought maximum track time in order to prepare himself for his single seater debut on April 22nd. He took the wheel of David Heavey’s ELF DH01 while Paul Heavey carried out some checks on his own car before handing it over to a guest driver for the remainder of the day.
Read’s morning running was interrupted briefly by a minor clutch problem but this was quickly rectified and the Naas teenager began racking up some serious mileage with a trouble free run to the end of the day. Taking his time to learn the daunting Northern Irish track, the youngster impressed as he had in his first test at Mondello by dropping his lap times steadily to end the day at a competitive pace, despite the hairpin being damp.
Paul Heavey completed a handful of laps in the sister car and once satisfied with the handling he handed it over to newly crowned Formula Vee Rookie champion Daniel Polley. Despite taking a cautious approach while learning the surroundings of the new car, Polley took chunks of time off each lap round, obviously enjoying the 900cc machine. He ended the day setting a time close to the pole time set at the final round on 27th September, even though the hairpin was still not fully dry.
Team boss Paul Heavey was delighted at how the test went and looked forward to working with both drivers again in the New Year. “Again, Mark took a sensible approach, getting as much miles as possible while learning as much as he can when out of the car. Dan was extremely impressive and it’s evident why he dominated the Rookie (Vee) class. He quickly got down to a competitive time without doing anything stupid and he seemed to enjoy the experience.”
While Read is set to complete the full 10 rounds of the Formula 5 championship, Polley looks set to race in the Formula Vee championship with a view to competing in a handful of Formula 5 rounds.