McLaren Valencia test notes 2006-01-31

Team McLaren Mercedes' pre-season preparations moved to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia today, where Kimi Raikkonen and Gary Paffett were behind the wheels of the MP4-21 and MP4-20 respectively.

This week’s test is another multi-team session, with Ferrari, Williams, Red Bull and Honda also present at the 3.940km Valencia circuit.

The team's programme for the four day test will continue to focus on systems checks and set-up work of the MP4-21, as the development programme for the car progresses in the build-up to the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The wet weather conditions today meant that only systems work was completed, giving the team the opportunity to run activities such as wet launches and fuel systems checks, the latter of which was why Kimi had a planned stoppage on track during the morning session.

Due to the bad weather conditions Kimi was only able to complete 27 laps, which equates to just over 105km. His fastest time of the day, a 1m21.189, put the Finn in fourth position on the timesheets.

Gary, who was driving the interim MP4-20, covered 170km with his work focused on wet tyre running with Michelin. Kimi and Gary will continue in Valencia tomorrow, with Juan Pablo Montoya and Pedro de la Rosa taking over for Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd February.

-mclaren-