TEST REPORT VALENCIA - DAY ONE
Date: Monday 27th February 2006
Location: Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia, Spain
Drivers: Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett
Weather: Cold and sunny
Track temperature – high of 21.8 degrees Celsius
Air temperature – high of 16.1 degrees Celsius
Laps run: 218
Kilometres covered: Pedro de la Rosa approx. 580km
Gary Paffett approx. 280km
Best lap time of the day: Nico Rosberg, WilliamsF1, 1m11.021
Duration of test: Three days (27th February – 1st March)
Pedro de la Rosa was at the wheel of an MP4-21 today, as
the Team McLaren Mercedes test team continued the squad's
intensive programme in the build-up to the start of the season
in 12 days time in Bahrain.
The emphasis of the Spaniard's work was long runs at the
Circuit Ricardo Tormo for both engine and tyre work, as he
completed over 580km in the MP4-21. During the morning the
track was damp, which provided the opportunity to run intermediate
tyres and conduct development work with Michelin. Pedro switched
to dry tyres as the circuit conditions improved and continued
putting in a number of stints over the 20 lap mark. Pedro's
quickest time of the day, a 1m11.229, put him in second position
on the timesheets.
Fellow Team McLaren Mercedes test driver Gary Paffett was
also in attendance today. Gary, who was driving an MP4-20,
continued the Michelin tyre testing, which has been his main
focus of the winter testing. As a result of the damp track
in the morning, Gary only covered 10 laps, with the majority
of his 71 laps taking place during the afternoon as his programme
required a dry track. The British driver covered 280km and
set a fastest time of 1m13.053
Today was Gary's only day at the test, with Kimi Raikkonen
joining Pedro on track tomorrow. Kimi will continue the programme
with the MP4-21, which is one of the chassis's that will go
to Bahrain, with Pedro switching to the MP4-20.
Unofficial times*:
Pos Driver Constructor Time Laps
1 Nico Rosberg WilliamsF1 1m11.021 84
2 Pedro de la Rosa Team McLaren Mercedes 1m11.229 147
3 Mark Webber WilliamsF1 1m11.359 67
4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 1m11.450 54
5 Gary Paffett Team McLaren Mercedes – V10 1m13.053
71
*no official times available
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