Paul Ricard Testing, Day 1,
Back to work at Le Castellet for the ING Renault
F1 Team.
Nelson Piquet Jr., R27-06, 125 laps, 449 km, best lap: 1'07.056
Following last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, the ING Renault
F1 Team today began a four-day test programme at the Paul
Ricard HTTT in the south of France.
With 150 different possible configurations, Paul Ricard is
the ideal circuit for a double test session such as this –
where teams are aiming to prepare for the widely different
demands of the Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix. The team began
its work on a Monaco type circuit, continuing its development
programme with chassis R27-06, and the young Brazilian Nelson
Piquet Jr. at the wheel.
Nelson Piquet Jr. completed his programme without any problems.
The Brazilian concentrated on preparing for the race in Monaco
next year, and continued to make progress with its planned
development programme. The results from the opening day were
encouraging, and by the end of the day, he had completed 125
laps, setting third-fastest lap in 1:07.056.
Nelson Piquet Jr: "I am pleased to
be driving an F1 car here. I know the circuit well from HP2,
and it was interesting to see how it looked from the cockpit
of the R27. I ran a lot today, just like in Barcelona last
time out, and that's always a good thing. I think we made
good progress, and it was a positive, encouraging day for
the rest of the week."
Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: "This
was a good first day for the team. We made good progress,
without any problems at all, and Nelsinho did exactly the
job we wanted from him – without any mistakes at all.
We work on the electronic systems, and traction control development;
the results were interesting, and we will continue preparations
for Monaco tomorrow with Heikki."
DRIVER - TEAM - BEST LAPS
1 HAMILTON McLaren 1'05.699 98
2 SCHUMACHER Toyota 1'06.920 96
3 PIQUET Renault 1'07.056 125
4 WEBBER Red Bull Racing 1'07.161 120
5 ROSBERG Williams 1'07.189 126
6 MASSA Ferrari 1'07.271 93
7 KLIEN Honda 1'07.357 114
8 GLOCK BMW 1'07.712 114
9 ROSSITER Super Aguri 1'08.026 129
10 SPEED Toro Rosso 1'08.143 53
11 FAUZY Spyker 1'09.443 73
|
