Caterham’s backup van der Garde to replace Petrov in Friday’s tests in China

Caterham reserve driver Giedo van der Garde will contest his first ever Formula 1 practice session in China this weekend, being handed 90 minutes of track time ahead of the Russian. The Dutchman, who is contesting the GP2 Series for a fourth season in 2012, is set to test a new floor on the CT01 if weather conditions prove stable enough.

«If it’s dry, we’ll be testing a new floor», Van der Garde told GPUpdate.net. «Also, we’ll be working on different KERS settings. But if it rains, we won’t be driving too many laps. In that case, we’ll be saving tyres for later in the weekend.»

Van der Garde completed one day at the wheel of Caterham’s 2012 contender at Jerez earlier in the year, as part of the team’s pre-season testing programme.