Barcelona Testing, Day 4,
The ING Renault F1 Team concludes its test in Barcelona
Nelson Piquet R28-04, 61 laps, 284 km, fastest lap 1:26.100
The ING Renault F1 Team concluded its four-day test at the
Circuit de Catalunya today as heavy rain showers hit the Spanish
circuit. As a result the team's programme was disrupted and
the R28 remained in the garage for the most of the day
Nelson Piquet had taken over from Fernando Alonso for the
final day and planned to run slick Bridgestone tyres this
morning. But with the poor weather conditions the team was
forced to revise its plans and it was not until late in the
afternoon that a dry line appeared. However, the team made
the most of the limited running to give Nelson some further
experience on wet weather tyres.
Despite the loss of valuable track time today, the team has
enjoyed a productive week in Barcelona and achieved most of
the objectives for the test. Attention now turns to the Spanish
Grand Prix next week, where the team will look to build on
the success of this week's efforts.
Nelson Piquet: "It was a shame that
it was so wet today as we could only do limited running. The
rain stopped after lunch and the track was beginning to dry,
but then there was another shower in the middle of the afternoon
which made it difficult to do much else. But for the final
hour or so the track was not in bad shape and we completed
a good amount of laps. Overall the test has been a good one
and we have done a lot of work to be in good shape for the
Spanish Grand Prix next week."
Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: "The
rain was really heavy this morning and so we lost a lot of
track time. But after lunch the rain held off for a bit and
we were able to send Nelson out to get some more miles on
the car. Although we were not able to learn much today, we
have enjoyed a productive week overall, and the whole team
has worked hard to make sure we are well prepared for the
race here next week."
DRIVER - TEAM - BEST LAPS
1 WEBBER Red Bull Racing 1 :21.953 37
2 KOVALAINEN McLaren 1 :23.589 34
3 RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1 :23.619 34
4 KUBICA BMW 1 :24.715 32
5 BUTTON Honda 1 :24.873 41
6 NAKAJIMA Williams 1 :24.927 62
7 PIQUET ING Renault F1 Team 1 :26.100 61
8 TRULLI Toyota 1 :32.150 18
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