Renault F1 Team concludes at Jerez
The final day of testing for the Renault F1 Team in Jerez
saw the team continue reliable running with the new R26.
The objective for the fourth and final day of this week’s
test in Jerez was to continue gaining mileage with the R26/RS26
package. Fernando Alonso was once again at the wheel, aiming
to complete long runs and achieve a race distance during the
day. He was interrupted by numerous red flags in the morning,
while the afternoon saw unstable weather conditions and further
red flags disrupt the programme.
Nevertheless, the final day of running proved trouble-free
for the team, and concludes a very satisfying first week of
work with the new car. The package completed nearly 300 km,
the RS26 continued to run impressively and is confirming the
positive results from dyno testing at Viry through the winter.
Initial work with the package has reassured the team after
an intensive winter’s work to deliver the car on team.
Of course, work does not stand still and the team is already
hard at work on solutions for minor gremlins, plus developments
for the coming weeks.
Giancarlo Fisichella was once again at the wheel of the R25,
and continued working on a tyre development programme in concert
with Michelin. The Italian, who will celebrate his 33rd birthday
tomorrow, once again collected useful data that will be transposed
to the R26.
Fernando Alonso: “We had another very good day, although
I feel a bit frustrated at the end because the number of red
flags and rain showers stopped me from making the most of
the day with more long runs in the 2006 car. I think we have
done a good job this week. The aim was to do as many laps
as possible, which we managed without any mechanical problems.
The car feels good. There are still things to improve, but
we have a solid base and I am really looking forward to the
next session in Barcelona in ten days’ time, to continue
working on reliability and start looking at performance. There
will already be new things to test, so it should be an interesting
session.”
Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: “Our primary objective
this week was to run as many laps as possible and collect
the maximum amount of information with the new package, which
will help us achieve the best reliability and performance
at the first race. Today was another good day, even though
we lost time through red flags – although our cars didn’t
cause any of them! It was a good week, we already seem to
have found reliability and the performance seems quite promising
after only four days. That is a good first reward for the
whole team, which has worked very hard to get where we are.
We now need to carry on with that good work, and we will be
back on track on 25 January in Barcelona.”
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