Sunday, February 13, 2011

Alonso fans turn out in force at Jerez

Fernando Alonso mobbed by fans in the Jerez paddock

When the engineers and mechanics set off for the track this morning, it must have felt more like preparation for a day’s testing at Fiorano rather than Jerez, as there was so much fog hanging over the circuit.

Then, luckily, it cleared away and a warm sun heated up the track, while there was also plenty of warmth flowing from the thousands of fans who arrived here in the early hours. The queues at the turnstiles, wanting to get in to watch testing, were hundreds of metres long by eight o’clock.

With all due respect to the other drivers, all eyes were on the red car with the number 5 on its nose, belonging to Fernando Alonso. Each time he passed by a crowded area of the circuit a roar erupted which he admitted being able to hear in the cockpit.

The Spaniard began driving shortly after nine and concentrated mainly on a comparison between all four types of tyre brought here by Pirelli for this test, while this afternoon, he will work on doing some long distance runs.

Just like the drivers who ran on Thursday, Fernando wanted to show support for Robert Kubica and the Spaniard is running today with an image on his helmet which is a copy of that used by his Polish friend.

Source: YallaF1

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