TEST REPORT - BARCELONA - DAY ONE
Date: Wednesday 12th April 2006
Location: Circuit de Catalunya, Spain
Drivers: Kimi Raikkonen and Pedro de la Rosa
Weather: Sunny and bright
Track temperature – high of 35.7 degrees Celsius
Air temperature – high of 20.8 degrees Celsius
Laps run: 99
Kilometres covered: Kimi Raikkonen approx. 111km
Pedro de la Rosa approx. 342km
Best lap time of the day: Heikki Kovalainen,Renault 1m15.118
Duration of test: Three days (12th – 14th April)
The Team McLaren Mercedes testing programme has relocated
to Barcelona this week for a three day session with two MP4-21
race cars. The test is the first major multi-team outing since
the start of the season, with 18 cars on track today.
Pedro de la Rosa, who was continuing his programme from last
week at Paul Ricard, was joined at the Circuit de Catalunya
by Kimi Raikkonen. The test team's work today focused on set-up
work.
Lap times at the circuit today were very close with the top
13 drivers all setting times within one second of the fastest
time. With so many teams on track there was the usual disruption
of red flags with the total number today reaching nine stoppages.
Kimi covered 24 laps of the Spanish track, which equates
to 111km, as he set the 12th fastest time of the day with
a 1m15.957. The Finn's running began shortly before 14:00,
as a result of his MP4-21 arriving in Barcelona from the McLaren
Technology Centre early this morning. Kimi's car had returned
from the Australian Grand Prix, following spare car duties
at the opening three races, and was rebuilt in Woking prior
to travelling to the test.
Team-mate Pedro completed 342km and 75 laps of his home track.
The Spaniard put in a time of 1m15.779, which saw him take
10th position on the timesheets. Pedro's day ended about two
hours before the end of session with an engine failure. As
there was only a short period of time until the end of running,
the test team will be replacing his V8 prior to the start
of tomorrow's session.
The Team McLaren Mercedes test team will continue running
at the Circuit de Catalunya tomorrow with Juan Pablo Montoya
joining Kimi on track.
Unofficial times*:
Pos Driver Constructor Time Laps
1 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1m15.118 130
2 Fernando Alonso Renault 1m15.251 46
3 Anthony Davidson Honda Racing 1m15.352 102
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m15.425 97
5 Ricardo Zonta Toyota 1m15.426 86
6 Rubens Barrichello Honda Racing 1m15.452 90
7 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1m15.672 85
8 Mark Webber WilliamsF1 1m15.683 78
9 Christian Klien Red Bull Racing 1m15.746 88
10 Pedro de la Rosa Team McLaren Mercedes 1m15.779 75
11 Nico Rosberg WilliamsF1 1m15.956 44
12 Kimi Raikkonen Team McLaren Mercedes 1m15.957 24
13 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1m15.974 82
14 Marc Gene Ferrari 1m16.446 103
15 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1m16.757 62
16 Tonio Liuzzi Toro Rosso 1m17.069 89
17 Olivier Panis Toyota 1m17.563 51
18 Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1m19.772 74
*no official times available
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