Jack Duhan: I worked on the simulator for nine hours straight

The results of the weekend in Monaco, practically the home stage of the season for Alpine F1, were controversial, but the ridiculous incident between the team’s drivers on the first lap faded into the background as Pierre Gasly still managed to to finish in the top ten. .

Of course he is great, but there was another Alpine driver who made a significant contribution to this result and the Renault factory team dedicated a separate press release to him.

We are talking about its reservist Jack Duane, who put a lot of effort into working on the simulator and looking for optimal settings for the A524 together with the team’s engineers. As the team emphasizes, this helped to improve first in the third practice session and then in qualifying.

As Jack lives in Monaco, he was at the track on Thursday and Friday mornings, then flew to Britain and spent many hours driving the simulator at Enstone.

“I will work on the simulator during all European stages,” said Duane. – The first stage this year took place in Imola, and I started by trying to restore all the necessary sensations. But in Monaco the situation was completely different, somewhat unusual, especially because we worked together with the entire night shift in Enstone on the night from Friday to Saturday.

I flew from Nice to Heathrow at 12pm on Friday, arrived in Enstone at 2.50pm and our session started at 4pm and we worked until we had done everything that needed to be done. I probably worked on the simulator for nine hours straight, with ten minute breaks, during which time we were interrupted three times. Although the session usually lasts a few hours.”
Friday’s training sessions at the city circuit in the principality were not easy for the team; Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finished in 18th and 20th place according to the protocol of the first session, and in the second they rose slightly higher – they were 14th. and 17th.

At the start of the multi-hour simulator session, Douin worked with the same settings used in Monaco on Friday, after which he began experimenting with the engineers and looking for alternative options. At the same time, Enstone’s technical team was in constant contact with the racing team on the track.

According to Jack, finding the optimal settings was important because the team fully trusted his opinion: “They have to trust me, that’s very important. This makes it possible to make decisions about which approaches work and which do not. It’s nice that they really trust me and that what I advise produces results. My simulator session lasted until about 2am and at 3am I was driven back to Heathrow. At 6am I flew back to Nice, and by 10am I was already on the track and taking part in a meeting.

After 180 laps in Monaco it’s hard not to collapse from fatigue, and on the way back I couldn’t think of anything else. But to be honest, I didn’t feel that bad, but I dreamed of having a good night’s sleep.”

The team was able to try out the settings found by Douin together with Enstone’s engineers in the third practice session, and the results were immediately noticeable: in that session Pierre showed the 11th fastest time, and there was hope that the speed of the Alpine car would to decrease. allowing them to qualify for the final qualifier.

And so it happened, and in the end Gasly started from 10th position, Esteban Ocon from 11th.

“Jack did a great job on the simulator,” said Pierre. “But when he got to the track, his eyes just closed. But I told him that his work was very useful, and I wanted to try some of the directions he suggested on my own car. He just confirmed my feelings.”

The bonus point Pierre received for 10th place in the race was further proof of the effectiveness of Jack Duane’s efforts.