END OF TEST REPORT SEPANG
The Honda Racing F1 Team completed a four-day test at the
Sepang International Circuit today in preparation for the
Malaysian Grand Prix next weekend. The team ran one RA107
car for the event which was extended by a day due to wet conditions
on Thursday.
Race drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello completed
the majority of the running with Christian Klien rounding
off the test programme for the final afternoon. Weather conditions
for the majority of the week were extremely hot and humid
providing the race drivers with a good opportunity to acclimatise
ahead of the Grand Prix weekend.
Rubens began the test on Tuesday with an evaluation of the
latest aerodynamic upgrades for the RA107 car. He completed
83 laps on a continually improving circuit, looking at the
new aero package over longer runs as the day progressed.
Rubens continued his programme on Wednesday morning with
early set-up work as the circuit cleaned up. Unfortunately,
on his first full run, the car had an engine failure which
caused it to stop out on the circuit. With a new engine fitted,
Rubens completed an aero evaluation covering 35 laps. Jenson
took over the test programme in the afternoon with early acclimatisation
runs before working through a chassis set-up evaluation completing
24 laps.
Overnight rain meant that the track was wet for the majority
of the morning session on Thursday therefore Jenson went out
on wet tyres for the first time in the RA107 car. He then
completed further aero evaluations alongside mechanical set-up
work before a downpour soaked the track once again. Jenson
therefore switched to wet tyres for a further two short runs,
completing 95 laps in total.
Friday morning was once again hot and humid enabling Jenson
to continue his planned aero work and he went on to complete
37 laps. Christian took over the car for the afternoon, however
his running was affected by another heavy downpour after one
run on dry tyres. He switched to wet tyres completing two
runs to end the day with 24 laps.
Jenson Button
"We have run through a lot of test items this week, mainly
with new aero parts, trying to resolve some of the issues
we had in Australia. The car definitely works better around
the Sepang circuit, partly because braking stability is not
as important here but also because we have made some improvements
over the week. We have by no means solved everything yet and
there is a long way to go but we have made a small step in
the right direction. The weather has been up and down over
my test days so I've also had the chance to experience some
wet testing for the first time in the RA107 car."
Rubens Barrichello
"We had a very busy programme in Sepang this week to
work on the car and improve it from Australia. Aero work was
the main focus along with controls systems comparisons where
we have found some new direction. The new aero parts have
given us some positive results in improving the balance of
the car and the consistency but we know that we have a lot
of work still to do."
Jacky Eeckelaert - Engineering Director
"Our programme for this week's four-day test at the Sepang
International Circuit focused mainly on aerodynamic developments.
As the drivers have commented, we are heading in the right
direction, however further performance improvements have to
come to get the car in competitive shape. We also tested some
new developments on the electronics systems with positive
results. We will now work as hard as possible to get some
good results from the two remaining flyaway races in Malaysia
next weekend and then Bahrain."
TEST STATS (All timings are unofficial)
Drivers Tuesday 27 March Wednesday 28 March
Thursday 29 March Friday 30 March
Jenson Button - 24 laps 01:36.617
95 laps 01:37.472 37 laps 01:37.326
Rubens Barrichello 83 laps 01:36.826 35 laps 01:36.563 -
-
Christian Klien - -
- 24 laps 01:39.175
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