MF1 RACING
2006 Bahrain GP Free Practice Sessions One and Two
MF1 Racing continued its preparations for the 2006 Bahrain
GP today with all three cars doing a considerable amount of
running in both free practice sessions.
German reserve driver Markus Winkelhock, participating in
his first Grand Prix weekend, performed extremely well, considering
it was his first time driving at the Sakhir circuit.
The team encountered no significant technical problems, although
a slight electronic malfunction limited Christijan Albers'
track time in the second session.
Adrian Burgess, Sporting Director: "It
was quite a constructive first day of the season for all of
us. Tiago did a decent job and ran through his programme without
any real problems. Same with Markus, who did some tyre evaluation
work for us that should prove useful for us. Christijan had
a few issues with the car but we did go in the right direction,
so hopefully we'll have another trouble-free day tomorrow.
We're definitely getting a better idea of the car as we continue
to put mileage on it and we can expect further performance
gains throughout the weekend."
Tiago Monteiro (POR)
Chassis: M16-03, Car #18
First Session Classification: 13th, 1:36.542, 9 laps completed
Second Session Classification: 20th, 1:34.459, 14 laps completed
Quote: "I was pretty happy with my day, actually. We
had no major problems and the car felt better and better as
the day went on. I got held up in the second session by a
few yellow flags, so I'm pretty sure I could have gone about
four-tenths faster on the fuel load I had. We also know where
we can make improvements, so that's also pretty encouraging.
But you never know where you are compared to everyone else
- this is only practice, after all. Tomorrow's qualifying
should provide more answers."
Christijan Albers (NED)
Chassis: M16-02, Car #19
First Session Classification: 14th, 1:36.930, 9 laps completed
Second Session Classification: 26th, 1:36.314, 16 laps completed
Quote: "Today was a tough day for me, as I encountered
some difficulties with the car's electronics. But then again,
we know what the problem is so we should be able to address
it before tomorrow's practice. It's difficult, not being able
to go as fast as I'm capable of, but that's what practice
is for - ironing out problems. Tomorrow is another day, and
I'm looking forward to showing what I can do. Believe me,
you haven't seen the best of me yet."
Markus Winkelhock (GER)
Chassis: M16-04, T-Car
First Session Classification: 15th, 1:37.918, 16 laps completed
Second Session Classification: 23rd, 1:35.686, 24 laps completed
Quote: "Both sessions were actually quite OK. In the
first session, I had first of all to learn the track, because
I've never driven here before. By the end though, I felt comfortable
with the car and with the track, although I wasn't pushing
too much. In the second session, the car was feeling quite
good - we made some noticeable improvements. But at the end,
I was somewhat unlucky, as I went out with new sets of tyres
twice and didn't get to really make the most of them. The
first time I spun, and the second time there was a yellow
flag because of someone else. So, a bit unlucky, but in the
end, it was quite useful to find some good tyres for the races
and for qualifying. Overall, I'm happy with the way things
went."
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