Spa testing, Day 2,
Day two for the ING Renault F1 Team at Spa-Francorchamps
Heikki Kovalainen, R27-06, 44 laps, 308 km, best lap: 1'47.754
The ING Renault F1 Team today continued its test programme
at Spa-Francorchamps in preparation for the Belgian Grand
Prix, in September, as well as pursuing the technical development
programme for the coming races.
Heikki Kovalainen was in action for the team today, driving
at the Belgian circuit for the first time in an F1 car. The
Finn enjoyed a dry morning, during which he was able to complete
a set-up programme, allowing him to find a stable handling
balance with the car. It then began raining, disrupting the
planned programme. The team made the most of the conditions
to fine-tune the car's handling in the wet, which was all
the more important because rain is often a factor at the Belgian
race.
By the end of the day, Heikki had covered 44 laps, equating
to 308 km. He set third fastest time with a best lap of 1'47.754,
set at the end of the morning session.
Heikki Kovalainen: "I raced at this
track in GP2 a couple of years ago, but the first time in
an F1 car is always a bit different, no matter which circuit
it is. The car balance was good straight away, and I think
we have a good baseline to work from at the GP weekend. We
then tried to get the most out of the changing track conditions
by working on tuning the set-up for the wet conditions, particularly
focusing on the control systems. That was a good programme,
and we found some interesting things. In spite of the changeable
weather, I think we got the most out of the day, and the results
were encouraging."
Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: "The
poor conditions certainly cost us track time today, but it
was important to prepare for the possibility of rain during
the race weekend in September. We did different length runs,
on different tyres, in different conditions to learn as much
as possible. Heikki got to grips with the circuit revisions
very quickly and was quite pleased with the car balance and
handling. We will be looking to complete a busy day of work
tomorrow with Giancarlo, our last day of this test, as we
try and make up some of the time we lost today."
DRIVER - TEAM - BEST LAPS
1 MASSA Ferrari 1'46.698 54
2 ALONSO McLaren 1'47.012 68
3 KOVALAINEN ING Renault F1 Team 1'47.754 44
4 SCHUMACHER Toyota 1'48.534 29
5 SUTIL Spyker 1'48.873 49
6 COULTHARD Red Bull Racing 1'48.915 40
7 BUTTON Honda 1'49.526 50
8 BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1'49.732 53
9 ROSBERG Williams 1'50.295 52
10 DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1'52.438 54
11 KUBICA BMW 1'55.155 29
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