JUNE 3, 2015

Juncadella among handful of Mercedes sim drivers

Dani Juncadella is just one of a handful of drivers who work for reigning champions Mercedes in the sophisticated Brackley simulator.

Dani Juncadella is just one of a handful of drivers who work for reigning champions Mercedes in the sophisticated Brackley simulator.

Last year a reserve driver for Force India, the Spaniard is now focused mainly on racing for Mercedes in the German touring car series DTM.

Less known is that he spends two days a week at Brackley.

"In late 2014," the 24-year-old told the Spanish sports daily Marca, "they tested 10 or 12 drivers to share the simulator work."

Among them, he said, are 2015 reserve Pascal Wehrlein, Anthony Davidson, the Petronas backed Jazeman Jaafar and another driver that Juncadella said must remain nameless.

"I am in there twice a week," said Juncadella. "The degree of accuracy is very high, a lot has been invested in it. Psychologically and physically it is hard work."

(GMM)