Formula One ace Paul Di Resta set for Singapore

Sep 22 2011 by Kieran Westbrook, West Lothian Courier

PAUL Di RESTA is gearing up for a big weekend in Singapore.

The Force India racing ace has been studying the lengthy street track ahead of Sunday’s Formula One Grand Prix.

And he’s eager to get onto the tarmac at the Marina Bay Circuit and learn the course.

He said: “[I have been] working on the simulator and looking at on-board videos.

“I was there last year watching and walked the track, so I know the layout.

“Singapore is probably going to be one of the more difficult tracks to get up to speed on because it's such a long lap.

“Also, with any street circuit you need to build up your confidence over the weekend.”

He added: “I definitely enjoy the challenge [of street tracks] and you have to take a slightly different approach to them.

“It's all about having as much time in the car so that you can push right to the limits of the track.

“We will also need to keep any eye on the weather because any rain storms could hamper things.

“I just hope we get some dry weather while I learn the track.”

And confidence should be high for Di Resta after he managed his second-best finish in the Force India cockpit at Monza in his last outing.

The eighth-place finish handed him four points and lifted him to 15th in the drivers championships.

His only better finish came three races ago when he managed seventh in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

And Di Resta reckons finishing eighth in Italy was a big achievement for the team.

He said: “We struggled in general with the car's performance and we were fighting all the way.

“So picking up four points was a great result.

“I don't think we could have achieved any more, to be honest. I think that's where our performance level was.

“There were a lot of different approaches going on in that race with some teams concentrating more on race pace than qualifying.”

See next week’s Courier Sport to find out how the Bathgate Bullet did in Singapore.