2006 FRENCH GRAND PRIX - PREVIEW
MAGNY COURS
The French Grand Prix, Round eleven of the 2006 FIA Formula
One World Championship, gets underway at the Circuit de Nevers
in Magny Cours next weekend. The first of an intensive three
races in four weeks sees the F1 teams return to Europe following
the two races in North America.
Before heading to France, the Honda Racing F1 Team will be
at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend for
one of the most popular events on the UK motorsport calendar.
Jenson Button and Anthony Davidson will be in attendance over
the weekend, driving the RA106 race car, and along with Sporting
Director Gil de Ferran, will also have the chance to try out
the historic RA301, originally raced by John Surtees in 1968.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"The circuit at Magny Cours is a very good track for
the drivers as it's a lot of fun to drive and also very fast.
The high speed changes of direction between turns four and
five, and also turns seven and eight, are quite challenging.
The race is usually an exciting one and if the weather follows
the usual pattern, it will probably be very hot. We had an
intensive test at Jerez this week in very hot conditions looking
at the tyres and aero for this race so we should be well prepared.
We collected a lot of data in Jerez and now we have to work
hard and see how we can make that work for us at Magny Cours."
JENSON BUTTON
"I really enjoy racing at Magny Cours. It's a smooth
circuit and very flowing, which is the type of track I prefer
as it is more suited to my driving style. I've had decent
finishes there in the last two years so hopefully we can repeat
that form next weekend with a strong points finish. It was
disappointing to retire from the race at Indianapolis so early
last weekend but looking on the positive side, the car worked
much better all weekend than in Montreal."
GIL DE FERRAN
Sporting Director
"We return to Europe encouraged by our performance in
the United States Grand Prix and optimistic that we can carry
that through into the French Grand Prix next weekend. Magny
Cours represents quite a different challenge to the last two
circuits since it is very smooth and contains a mixture of
high and slow speed turns, however it is similarly hard on
rear tyres. Weather-wise, in the past we have seen very hot
conditions and we expect to encounter more of the same next
weekend, which our car and set-up seem to cope quite well
with. We are hopeful that the developments tested in Jerez
this week will bring us some improvement and we can again
be in a position to score some good points, this time with
both drivers."
Circuit de Nevers, Magny Cours
Race Distance 70 laps
Circuit Length 2.741 miles (4.411 kms)
The Circuit de Nevers is located in Burgundy, the geographic
heartland of France, and has been home to the French Grand
Prix since 1991. The twelve-turn circuit is blessed with a
smooth surface and boasts generous run-off areas, although
its twisty layout means that overtaking possibilities in dry
conditions are usually limited to the slow Adelaide hairpin.
The race organisers tried to answer that criticism in 2004
by replacing the final chicane and increasing the run off
area at the final Lycee turn, but the alterations have met
with limited success.
Lap times vary noticeably at Magny-Cours depending on the
ambient temperature. In common with other tight circuits,
Formula One cars are set up to race with high levels of downforce,
without completely compromising straight-line speed.
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