Nicole in Spain

No sooner had the champagne finished spraying for her two podium finishes at Road American that Nicole Havrda was on her way across the Atlantic, to test for the F1 Academy with Campos Racing in Spain.

The first day saw an exhausted and jet-lagged Nicole arrive at the Navarra circuit. With no time for a track walk, let alone simulator training, she was straight to work.

“It took me some time to adapt to the car since there’s less downforce than I’m used to and the driving style is completely different,” she said.

“I struggled with jet lag [nine hours difference] so by mid-day I was falling asleep in the car.”

Even so, the young Canadian was getting down to competitive times, as she learned the car and track; improving with each session.

Day two saw Nicole struggling with understeer, the cause of which became apparent when a front wishbone broke; cutting short the session.

Nicole then made her way south to Valencia, and the Circuit Ricardo Tormo for the next phase of her test. This time she had the opportunity to walk the track and spend time in the Campos simulator to prepare herself for the coming sessions.

“The first day I got up to speed immediately which I was super happy about because I have been working on that for so long, and since F1 Academy has only two practices, you have to be up to speed quickly in order to qualify well, ” she said.

After some overnight tweaks to the car, the next day saw Nicole immediately on the pace in a car that she said, “felt perfect”.

Her last session was run over a race distance. Not only was she on pace, running fast laps, but all sixteen laps were within one-tenth of a second of each other.

Aftwards she commented, “I can’t thank Campos Racing enough. Overall it was a very successful test and I’m very happy.”

“I showed that I know how to communicate about the car and what it’s doing and I can adapt quickly.

“On top of that, Spain was so beautiful and I hope to go back there soon!”