BAR Valencia test notes 2004-01-29

Lucky Strike B*A*R Honda completed three days of testing with the '04 Concept cars this week prior to the launch of its 2004 challenger, the B*A*R Honda 006, in Barcelona on Sunday 1 February. Jenson Button, Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson were all involved in the two-car test, which focused on a Michelin tyre development programme.

The test focused on long-run tyre evaluation, in order to provide the team with further data on how the car and tyres will behave together in race-weekend conditions. Weather at the circuit has been generally sunny and warm, although some strong winds on Tuesday morning did compromise consistent lap times.

The team completed in excess of 500 laps over three days, which amounts to 2050 kilometres. This is valuable mileage for the team, as it has now clocked up almost 10,000 kilometres of reliability testing on the rear-end components of the B*A*R Honda 006. Although the test in Valencia has been very useful in terms of collecting data, the team lost some track time due to a number of small faults and two engine failures.

Jenson Button
"We had a bit of a problem this afternoon but other than that have had a good test, and got through a lot of work. We have been concentrating on longer-runs comparing performance and working on consistency with the tyres and car set-up. Previously we were just testing for reliability, but now we're looking at performance. We're getting better and better at the long-distance running and are much more consistent. I'm now looking forward to seeing the benefit of our hard work transfer to the new car. All of the information shows that it should be good."

Takuma Sato
"It's been a mixed test as on the first morning I only managed five laps before we had a problem. But since we got back on track on Tuesday afternoon, I have completed some useful tyre testing. We have completed some longer run programmes, which have gone very well. Yesterday, we suffered an engine problem, which meant we did not complete all of the planned set-up work, but I'm still pleased that we have obtained some useful data from the Valencia track."

Anthony Davidson
"After the problems of the last test, it was good to get some solid laps and longer runs in the car. We are really focused now on tyre performance evaluation and ensuring the longevity of the tyres. It was good to have a run on a different circuit, as Valencia is challenging, and we have made some very positive steps forward again."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development
"We have clocked up a lot of laps at this test and expanded our knowledge of the various Michelin tyres, which has been very useful. A problem occurred on a couple of engines near the end of their lives, but we are confident we have identified the causes and know how to address them."