2007 FRENCH GRAND PRIX
MAGNY COURS - PREVIEW
The Formula One season returns to Europe next week with Round
Eight of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, the
French Grand Prix, held in the heart of France at the Circuit
de Nevers in Magny Cours.
Before arriving in France, the Honda Racing F1 Team will
be appearing at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed this
weekend with Jenson Button and Christian Klien taking the
RA107 car up the famous hill climb. One of the most popular
events on the UK motorsports calendar, Sporting Director Gil
de Ferran will also be taking the wheel at Goodwood in a Williams
Honda FW11 historic F1 car.
SHUHEI NAKAMOTO - Senior Technical Director
"We made some good progress at the three-day test in
Jerez this week where the excellent weather allowed us to
fully complete our planned programme. We were therefore able
to sign off various new mechanical parts and an aerodynamic
upgrade for the RA107 as well as further improvements to the
stability under braking. We expect a small improvement in
performance in both qualifying and the race next weekend at
Magny Cours."
JENSON BUTTON
"The Circuit de Nevers is quite a tricky circuit to get
your lap absolutely right however it is a lot of fun to drive
and very fast. The start is particularly important, regardless
of what side of the grid you are on, and you have to position
yourself well for the first two corners to get a good run
down the straight to the Adelaide hairpin. This is really
the only place on the circuit where you can have a real chance
of overtaking. The key to a really quick lap around here is
getting the front end of the car working well, particularly
for turns one and two. You can lose a lot of time at turn
two if you have too much understeer in the car. You also need
to have good car stability to make the most of the high speed
chicanes."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"I really enjoy racing at Magny Cours and it is a really
flowing circuits which the drivers generally enjoy. The track
has a mixture of high and slow speed turns, and although the
track surface is smooth, it can be hard on the rear tyres.
The high speed changes of direction between turns four and
five, and also turns seven and eight, are particularly challenging.
The weather conditions are usually very hot so the team will
be well prepared for high track temperatures having spent
three days testing in Jerez this week."
CIRCUIT DE NEVERS, MAGNY COURS
No of Laps 70 laps
Circuit Length 4.411 km
Race Distance 308.586 km
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 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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