Rusyn-8b Unveiled in Open Practice

The current version of the rusyn-8b ran its first public laps yesterday at Istanbul Park.  However, reports are that it is not performing up to expectations.  Test driver Tom Giangreco describes the rusyn-8b as, "* ******* ***** ** ****!!!", and reportedly compares it to what he left.  And why.

On track the best laptime of the rusyn-8b was 1:34.8, which at the time seemed a decent laptime.  However, the test team also brought a rusyn-8a along for comparison, with which they achieved a best laptime of 1:34.0 -- the old car was 8 tenths faster.

The Rusyn team principle says the rusyn-8b is still in development, and it sets up quite different, so laptime comparisons are not relevant yet.  The test drivers do not seem so optimistic.

The rusyn-8b is shorter and wider than the rusyn-8a, presumably to provide more agility and better tire wear to be more competitive with the low-stop strategies that saw success in 2008a.   The rusyn-8a was notoriously harsh on tires.