2006 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
BARCELONA - FREE PRACTICE
Honda Racing F1 Team third driver Anthony Davidson returned
to his more familiar position at the top of the free practice
timesheets today as he helped the team to prepare for Sunday's
Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Preserving most of their
running for this afternoon's session, race drivers Jenson
Button and Rubens Barrichello ended the day 8th and 9th.
Despite the fact that the team tests regularly at the Circuit
de Catalunya, no two days are the same in terms of track conditions
so it was business as usual with a full programme of tyre
selection and set-up work. At what is a home from home for
all of the drivers, today's top 11 were separated by just
a second, which provides a strong indication that tomorrow's
qualifying and Sunday's race will provide a closely-fought
battle.
ANTHONY DAVIDSON
"It feels really good to be back at the top of the timesheets.
The car feels a lot better than it did in the first session
but we still have a lot of work to do to get the best out
of it for the race. For me, tyre evaluation was the name of
the game. Our work today has paid off and we have some interesting
results to look through tonight. A good start to the weekend
I'd say."
JENSON BUTTON
"It was very windy out there today and it's difficult
to get a good balance in those conditions. There was also
a lot of traffic which affected pretty much every lap. It's
always very different to the test because the conditions change
from day to day but the basic car balance is okay. There are
a few things we need to work on tonight but generally I'm
pleased with the start we've made to the weekend."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"We've had a pretty straightforward day today. We are
still looking for our real race pace and that's what I focused
on today because we know the car is quick in qualifying. It's
looking good so far but we still have a lot of work to do
to prepare for tomorrow and Sunday."
GIL DE FERRAN
Sporting Director
"It has been a pretty normal day for us with no major
dramas. The track conditions this morning curtailed some of
Anthony's running nevertheless we collected plenty of data
from him. For the same reason we elected not to run this morning
with the race drivers. Overall there are still some improvements
we can make to the balance of the cars but a good start."
SHUHEI NAKAMOTO
Management Board Member - Honda Racing F1 Team, Engineering
Director - Honda Racing Development
"The engines ran without a problem and it was a solid
start to the weekend. We have more work to do on set-up for
both race drivers, but it is encouraging to see Anthony back
in P1."
FREE PRACTICE STATS
Drivers Car No. Chassis Free Practice 1 Free Practice 2
Rubens Barrichello 11 RA106-01 1 lap Untimed - 16 laps 01:17.417
P9
Jenson Button 12 RA106-04 1 lap Untimed - 12 laps 01:17.414
P8
Anthony Davidson 36 RA106-03 24 laps 01:16.961 P5 38 laps
01:16.533 P1
Weather Warm and sunny
Temperatures Air: 19-24°C Track: 20-43°C
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