END OF TEST REPORT
After a two week break following the Bahrain Grand Prix,
the Honda Racing F1 Team returned to the track this week at
the Circuit de Catalunya just outside of Barcelona, the home
of the Spanish Grand Prix.
With the start of the European season just one week away,
the programme for the four-day test focused on preparation
for the Spanish Grand Prix, along with an evaluation of new
aerodynamic configurations. The team ran one RA107 car this
week with Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button and Christian
Klien sharing the driving responsibilities.
Rubens began the test on Monday with an intensive aero programme
over long runs, followed by a tyre evaluation with the options
for the Spanish Grand Prix, completing 132 laps. Heavy rain
hit the circuit overnight and continued into Tuesday which
limited Rubens to a single installation lap during the morning.
The rain eased slightly by early afternoon and Rubens was
able to continue his aero work on both the extreme wet and
wet tyres, completing 44 laps over the day.
More typical sunny conditions returned for Wednesday as Jenson
joined the team in Barcelona. He spent the day completing
a series of aero evaluations and also working on the race
set-up of the car, covering 115 laps.
Christian completed the final day of running on Thursday.
He spent the morning working on general car set-up followed
by running various aero configurations before a rain shower
interrupted the programme. The afternoon was also rain-affected.
Christian was able to complete a short wet programme for a
total of 80 laps today before a heavy downpour brought the
day to an early conclusion.
Jenson Button
"Just one day in the car for me this week and I'm pleased
that we were able to cover a good number of laps which shows
the reliability of the car is very sound. I spent the day
on Wednesday continuing the evaluation of some new aero parts
alongside standard test items in preparation for the race
weekend."
Rubens Barrichello
"We were able to complete a lot of running during my
first day in the car and looked at many different test items.
It was valuable to complete so much mileage as we were looking
at many configurations with the new aero parts. I am happier
after this test and we seem to have found some results in
the right direction, so I hope we can make a small step forward
at the next race. My second day on Tuesday was mainly wet
but we covered over 40 laps and it was useful to get some
data in case the race weekend is also wet."
Christian Klien
"It was great to be back in the car this week after my
last test in Sepang, which was over four weeks ago, and I
had a good day testing. The track was dry this morning so
we evaluated different aero specifications. The weather changed
for the afternoon but it was good practice for me to drive
the car in the wet."
Jacky Eeckelaert - Engineering Director
"The main purpose of our test programme this week was
to evaluate different aerodynamic configurations which have
been developed in order to improve the braking stability of
the car. We had sufficient dry weather testing to find the
best package currently available. The braking is definitely
better now and the lap times have improved and become more
consistent, but there is still a long way to go to bring the
team back into contention."
TEST STATS (All timings are unofficial)
Drivers Monday 30 April Tuesday 01 May
Wednesday 02 May Thursday 03 May
Jenson Button - -
115 laps 01:22.765 -
Rubens Barrichello 132 laps 01:22.655 44 laps 01:32.911
- -
Christian Klien - -
- 80 laps 01:22.807
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