2006 SAN MARINO GRAND PRIX - IMOLA
FREE PRACTICE
The Honda Racing F1 Team were back on track in Imola today
for the opening day of the European season which kicks off
this weekend with the San Marino Grand Prix. Today's opening
free practice sessions saw the usual Friday activity of tyre
evaluations and set-up work, giving the drivers the opportunity
to fine-tune the cars to the demands of this newly reprofiled
circuit. The new chicane layout left the drivers struggling
for grip during the morning session but the team was able
to make good progress with evaluating its new aerodynamic
and engine upgrades this afternoon when the circuit had 'rubbered
in'.
ANTHONY DAVIDSON
"We've made a good start to the weekend, collecting plenty
of data from our extensive tyre evaluation work. The track
conditions were very slippery this morning due to the asphalt
around the new chicane but that improved this afternoon and
I think we have got some good running under our belts."
JENSON BUTTON
"We worked through our usual Friday programme and as
usual have a lot of information to work with as a result of
Anthony's running. We'll be taking a good look at the data
tonight to assess how our developments for this race will
suit us for the rest of the weekend and there is still some
way to go with the set-up. Generally, a reasonably good start."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"There was traffic everywhere today which made clean
runs very difficult, however I had a generally problem-free
day with the brakes working much better for me. We have some
work to do on the balance yet but so far so good and let's
see what tomorrow brings."
GIL DE FERRAN
Sporting Director
"We have had a reasonably good first day with Anthony
getting good clean runs to compare tyres in practice one and
two. As a result we have some very good data on this front.
On the other hand there is still some room for improvement
as far as the car balance is concerned, since all three drivers
are unhappy with similar issues. Hopefully we can address
some of these overnight and be in a strong position for qualifying
tomorrow."
SHUHEI NAKAMOTO
Management Board Member - Honda Racing F1 Team, Engineering
Director - Honda Racing Development
"We had a trouble-free day with the new specification
engine and we were able to gather a lot of data to analyse
in preparation for tomorrow's strategy decisions. Generally
a good start to the weekend."
FREE PRACTICE STATS
Drivers Car No. Chassis Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Rubens Barrichello 11 RA106-01 No timed lap 19 laps 01:26.653
P13
Jenson Button 12 RA106-04 No timed lap 12 laps 01:26.427 P11
Anthony Davidson 36 RA106-03 27 laps 01:26.012 P4 31 laps
01:25.699 P4
Weather Warm and sunny
Temperatures Air: 22-26°C Track: 26-32°C
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