2006 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX, SAKHIR, 10-11-12 MARCH
FREE PRACTICE
Rubens Barrichello 11 RA106-03
Jenson Button 12 RA106-04
Anthony Davidson 36 RA106-01
Weather Warm and sunny
Temperatures Air: 31-34°C Track: 37-42°C
The Honda Racing F1 Team's RA106 race car made its Grand
Prix weekend debut today at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain,
ending the first day's running at the top of the timesheets.
With the team able to run its third car during Friday's free
practice session, Anthony Davidson returned to Friday competition
and made his mark with the fastest lap of the day - 0.4 secs
ahead of the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher.
Anthony conducted most of the set-up and tyre work today,
preserving engine mileage on the two race cars of Rubens Barrichello
and Jenson Button. A gearbox problem this morning confined
him to the garage for much of the first session but he made
up for lost time with this afternoon, achieving a good balance
and plenty of data for the race drivers to work with.
ANTHONY DAVIDSON
Free Practice 1 No timed lap
Free Practice 2 Position: 1st No of Laps: 28 Fastest lap time:
01:31.353
"It's great to be fastest on the opening day of the
season but I wanted more from today, not just for me but for
the team. It was disappointing to lose the first session to
a gearbox problem but we made the best out of the situation
this afternoon and completed most of the tyre programme. Our
focus was on the long runs and we achieved a good result,
so coupled with the information we got in testing here a few
weeks ago, we have a lot of information to work with this
evening. The conditions here are very different though; it's
been quite windy today and there's a chance that may continue.
However we achieved a reasonably good balance by the end of
the session so generally we've made a good start."
JENSON BUTTON
Free Practice 1 Did not run (Third car programme)
Free Practice 2 Position: 9th No of Laps: 12
Fastest lap time: 01:33.226
"Not a bad first day. Having said that it's disappointing
that we couldn't achieve as much data as we'd hoped for after
losing all of the morning session. The track conditions are
quite different to those we encountered in testing here three
weeks ago so we have some work to do this evening with today's
data in order to keep improving for qualifying."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
Free Practice 1 Did not run (Third car programme)
Free Practice 2 Position: 18th No of Laps: 9 Fastest lap time:
01:34.384
"Today the focus was on Anthony and the data he could
achieve in the third car. The running that I completed this
afternoon was useful although I didn't really get a clean
lap due to traffic and also the balance of the car was very
different to the test here. We have some work to do to get
the right balance on my car for tomorrow morning but right
now I'm more enthusiastic about what we have been able to
achieve with the third car today."
GIL DE FERRAN, SPORTING DIRECTOR
"We ended the day on a very positive note, despite an
initial setback this morning when Anthony's running was curtailed
in the first session by a gearbox problem. He ended up posting
the fastest time of the day. All three drivers feel there
is more to come from improving the car balance, so tonight
we will analyse all the data gathered with a view to making
the tyre choice tomorrow and continuing to move forward."
SHUHEI NAKAMOTO, ENGINEERING DIRECTOR, HONDA RACING
DEVELOPMENT "The engine ran well and it was
good to see Anthony at the top of the timesheets, showing
once again the speed and consistency we saw from him on Fridays
in 2004."
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