JEREZ END OF TEST REPORT
The Honda Racing F1 Team completed a three-day test in Jerez
in southern Spain today. The entire test was conducted in
very hot conditions, with temperatures soaring to a high of
36 degrees. Rubens Barrichello and Reserve and Test Driver
Christian Klien were the scheduled drivers for this test,
the main focus of which was an evaluation of new mechanical
and aerodynamic developments for next weekend's Hungarian
Grand Prix and other European races. After the cooler, wetter
climes of the Eiffel Mountains at last weekend's European
Grand Prix, Jerez provided a taste of temperatures to come
at the Hungaroring in Budapest.
Christian Klien kick-started the Honda programme on day one.
In the morning the teams made a slow start on a very dusty
circuit but the circuit cleaned up well to allow Christian
to complete 42 laps of aerodynamic evaluations. As the track
temperature soared to 50 degrees in the afternoon, he completed
a further 28 laps, making a total of 70 for the day.
Rubens took over the reins of the RA107-06 on day two. He
spent the morning establishing a good baseline set-up before
embarking on the mechanical and aerodynamic evaluation programme,
notching up a total of 50 laps. In the afternoon, Rubens'
continued the aero programme for the day, taking his lap total
to 79 for the day.
Today Rubens continued his assessment of the new aero developments.
He spent the early part of the morning finding a good set-up
before running through the core programme and completing 39
laps. This afternoon he worked on various mechanical set-up
changes and further aerodynamic evaluations and brought his
total number of laps for the day to 86.
Rubens Barrichello
"This week's test has been quite a challenge because
of the very intense heat but this is good preparation for
me because I hear that this year's Hungarian Grand Prix will
be the hottest on record. We have made a lot of set-up adjustments
with the car to establish a good baseline and the mechanical
and aero parts seem to be an improvement. I hope we have the
basis for another small step forward next weekend."
Christian Klien
"I had a good day but it was tough for everyone because
of the heat. That's what we'll face in Hungary though so it
was a good opportunity for acclimatisation. The temperatures
were quite harsh on the tyres, which again is good preparation
for the conditions we will experience at the Hungaroring.
We did some good work with new developments for the next race
and generally I think we can take another positive step in
the right direction."
Jacky Eeckelaert - Engineering Director
"We have experienced three very productive days of testing
in very hot weather conditions. The focus of our programme
was preparing set-ups for the high downforce configuration
of the Hungaroring circuit and putting new mechanical and
aero parts through their paces. The car ran reliably throughout
so we were able to complete a lot of running and we found
a little more performance. Our new parts have now been signed-off
and we look forward to seeing how they translate at the Hungarian
Grand Prix."
TEST STATS (All timings are unofficial)
Drivers Tuesday 24 July Wednesday 25 July Thursday
26 July
Rubens Barrichello - 70 laps 01:21.444
86 laps 01:20.250
Christian Klien 70 laps 01:22.035 - -
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