GP2 Feature - The Didier Perrin Interview07/11/2007

As the final test of the 2007 season ended in France, one man was already looking towards 2008. GP2 Series technical director Didier Perrin has been working on the GP2/08, the car which will form the foundation of the second generation of the series, for over 18 months.

The success or failure of the future of the series rests almost exclusively in his hands, but as he tells us, thanks to the help of the GP2 Series teams, the pressure isn’t as great as one might at first assume...
 
“I wrote the specification of the car in 2006, and we started to have monthly meetings with Dallara and Mecachrome in October and November 2006,” says Didier.

“From the very beginning we have decided that the first run would take place in June 2007, and we achieved this goal without making any short-cuts.”

“The relationship between GP2 Series, Dallara and Mecahcrome was already established so it was much easier to work together than when we came up with the first car, as everybody understood much better the requirements of the other.”
 
The GP2/08 is a new car in almost every aspect, and so Didier was keen to find out which areas the teams wished to see improved in the second generation of the championship.

“The advice of the teams has helped a lot in the design of the new car,” he confirms. “We made our own experience of the car, but before the end of the 2006 season I sent a questionnaire to all the GP2 Team engineers for the chassis and the gearbox, requesting their opinions on details of each part. I think there were something like 160 questions in total.
 
“We also requested to have their opinions of what we had done well and what was not done so well on top of this questionnaire, and we took everything they came back with into consideration to establish the specification of the 2008 car.”
 
Not only were the teams happy with the car when it was launched to them, but thus far in testing the drivers have been hugely complimentary of the GP2/08 and its prospects.
 
Didier knows the capabilities of the car, however he maintains that it will have to be harnessed.
 
“We had to consider a big step forward to be able to supply in 2010 a car at a proper level compared to F1,” he tells us. “Throughout our development work we have made large steps forward but then we keep some of that in our pockets.”
 
When the GP2 Series finally gets their hands on the GP2/08 it will be early 2008, in time for the first test on February 28th.

Didier is confident, as well he might be, that with the combined engineering knowledge not only of the GP2 Series partners, but of all 13 teams, the new car will provide a solid foundation for the next generation of aspiring drivers to make it to F1, in a car that will remain fast, technical and ultimately relevant to the ever changing world of Formula One.