Barcelona Testing, Day 3, 15/11/2007
The ING Renault F1 Team concludes its test week in Barcelona.
Heikki Kovalainen R27-06, 81 laps, 377 km, fastest lap: 1'20.654
ING Renault F1 Team concludes its 3-day test session on the
Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona. The day was mainly devoted
to testing the reliability of the new standard ECU, the MES
TAG31OB ECU, which all the teams will have to use from 2008
onwards.
Heikki Kovalainen, who has done all the driving for Renault
this week, continued to fine-tune his R27, testing various
set-ups and getting to grips with a car that has neither traction
control nor EBS.
The Finn was able to complete a full programme this week
without any major problems. Today, he was slightly delayed
by a mechanical incident. Thanks to the efforts of his mechanics
Heikki wound up the day having gathered a lot of data, which
will now be analysed when the team gets back to the factory
tomorrow.
On his final day Heikki set the quickest time in 1'20.659
having covered 81 laps.
ING Renault F1 Team will be testing in Jerez at the start
of December with Nelson Piquet Jr at the wheel.
Heikki Kovalainen: "Today, we finished
our 3-day test session, which has been very positive in my
opinion. The car handled well right from the start. We've
worked on the new ECU and we've kept progressing over the
three days. We've been competitive whatever the track conditions,
and we've shown how determined Renault is to fight its way
back to the front in 2008. I think it's a very important first
step in our development programme for next season. Even if
we know there are a number of areas where we can still progress,
we've already done a good job this week."
Christian Silk, Test Chief Engineer: "We've
ending this test with very positive results. The mechanics
did a great job today to enable us to get back out as quickly
as possible, and achieve our mileage objective. We did a lot
of work on the brakes, and recorded a load of interesting
data that we'll have to analyse on our return to Enstone.
We revised the car's set-up last night, and Heikki seemed
very satisfied today with its overall balance, which is very
encouraging. The track changed throughout the day and the
car coped with these changes very well. I think it's fair
to say that these three days have been very positive. Now,
we'll try to take advantage of our next test on the Jerez
circuit to prepare for the arrival of the R28 in the best
possible conditions."
DRIVER TEAM BEST LAPS
1 KOVALAINEN ING Renault F1 Team 1'20.659 81
2 MASSA Ferrari 1'21.044 92
3 MONTAGNY Toyota 1'21.363 85
4 VETTEL Toro Rosso 1'21.486 67
5 COULTHARD Red Bull Racing 1'21.555 82
6 BADOER Ferrari 1'21.741 74
7 DE LA ROSA McLaren 1'21.805 33
8 ROSBERG Williams 1'21.820 69
9 BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1'21.939 84
10 PAFFETT McLaren 1'22.070 31
11 HEIDFELD BMW 1'22.460 53
12 KUBICA BMW 1'22.706 52
13 NAKAJIMA Williams 1'23.039 126
14 TRULLI Toyota 1'23.064 52
15 KLIEN Force India 1'23.084 83
16 BUTTON Honda 1'23.118 96
17 LIUZZI Force India 1'23.206 92
18 CONWAY Super Aguri 1'23.729 72
19 ROSSITER Super Aguri 1'23.931 61
20 DOORNBOS Red Bull Racing 1'24.102 61
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