Formula 1
Alonso fastest at Paul Ricard
Testing work resumed on May 16th and the Paul Ricard HTTT in France was the busiest location, with 12 drivers from seven teams on duty. Fresh from his home race triumph, Renault's Fernando Alonso was the fastest man of the day with a best time of ...
Published: May 17, 2006, 5:17 PM
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Testing work resumed on May 16th and the Paul Ricard HTTT in France was the busiest location, with 12 drivers from seven teams on duty. Fresh from his home race triumph, Renault's Fernando Alonso was the fastest man of the day with a best time of 1:05.686. Team test driver Heikki Kovalainen was also at work and was fourth on the time sheet.
Fernando Alonso.
Photo by xpb.cc.
Alonso worked on tyres for Monaco while Kovalainen completed system checks on the new R26-06 chassis and did some general tyre work. "Our first day was very positive: we were able to follow our programme without any problem and we identified some interesting solutions," said chief test engineer Christian Silk.
Felipe Massa was the sole Ferrari at work and was second quickest, less than half a tenth behind Alonso. The Brazilian focused on tyres for Monaco and meanwhile, team tester Luca Badoer was on track at Fiorano. Badoer worked on set up and testing new components and set a best time of 58.538 over 88 laps.
Toyota had both its race drivers on track at Paul Ricard, Jarno Trulli third overall and Ralf Schumacher 10th. McLaren also made use of its racers and had Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya fifth and sixth respectively. The team's programme for the week will focus on the cooling and bodywork package for the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix, engines, aero work for Canada and tyres.
Seventh on the time sheet was Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber, followed by team test driver Robert Kubica in eighth. They concentrated on a programme of aerodynamics for Monaco and tyres, Heidfeld on compounds and Kubica on casings. Jacques Villeneuve is scheduled to take over from Kubica tomorrow.
Behind the BMW pair was the Toro Rosso of Scott Speed in 10th and sister team Red Bull had racer Christian Klien 11th and tester Robert Doornbos rounded off the times in 12th. David Coulthard and Tonio Liuzzi are due to take over at Red Bull and Toro Rosso respectively tomorrow.
At Vallelunga in Italy two teams were at work, Honda and Williams. Both employed their test drivers and Honda's Anthony Davidson was the quickest man with a time of 1:01.855. Young development driver James Rossiter was third in between the Williams pair.
Alex Wurz was second quickest, just over a second off Davidson, and Narain Karthikeyan was fourth. Aerodynamics and mechanical modifications for Monaco were their programme. Mark Webber is scheduled to join Wurz on Wednesday.
"This morning, we worked on set-up changes and evaluated some revised suspension components on Alex's car before moving onto tyre compound tests in the afternoon," said test team manager Mike Condliffe. "Narain completed some engine mapping work with some new exhaust parts, he then carried out start comparisons work before covering off traction control work."
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