ING Renault F1 Team continues reliability development of
R27
The ING Renault F1 Team today continued testing with its
new R27 challenger, becoming the first team to test with two
examples of its new car in 2007.
17/01/07, Jerez, Spain
Giancarlo Fisichella, R27-02, 115 laps, 505 km, fastest lap:
1:20.201
Heikki Kovalainen, R27-01, 44 laps, 193 km, fastest lap: 1:20.635
The ING Renault F1 Team today continued testing with its
new R27 challenger, becoming the first team to test with two
examples of its new car in 2007.
Race drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen were
both able to take the wheel of the new car to continue with
the initial systems checks and reliability running on the
new car.
The team was encouraged to complete a full race distance
with Fisichella's car on the first full day of testing with
the new car, which indicates a promising initial level of
reliability for the R27. Kovalainen first day at the wheel
saw him complete fewer laps as he got a feel for the car's
handling and performance, but his positive first impressions
echoed those of his team-mate yesterday.
With just four cars running, the circuit remained in a poor,
dusty condition. Grip levels therefore remained low, a problem
compounded by the cool morning and late afternoon temperatures,
which made it complicated for the drivers to properly evaluate
the car.
The objectives for the day, though, were focused on accumulating
mileage rather than assessing pure performance, and the team
successfully passed the important milestone of the first race
distance while completing consistent long distance running.
Furthermore, overnight analysis of yesterday's engine problem
identified the failure of an accessory component as the cause,
and remedial work this morning ensured both cars ran without
difficulty throughout the day.
Giancarlo Fisichella: "This is a brand
new car, so to complete a full race distance on the first
proper day of running, without any problems, is a very good
achievement. It means that we are already in a strong position
with reliability, although there is still a lot of work to
do ahead of the first race. The track conditions were still
not good today, but the situation is improving a little. It
didn't matter so much today because we were focusing on reliability
work, but tomorrow we will start to make some set-up changes.
Overall, I still have a nice feeling with the car, and I can
feel it has good potential that."
Heikki Kovalainen: "This was my first
day in the car, so we didn't complete many laps today as we
checked everything over and got comfortable. The first feeling
this morning was very good, and also during the longer runs
this afternoon. The characteristics are similar to the R26,
but I can feel that we have improved in the areas we had targeted
during the winter. Giancarlo has already shown that the reliability
levels are good, so hopefully we can do more laps tomorrow
and make good progress with the programme."
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