New Renault running well

The new Renault R24 had its first test at the Circuit de Catalunya last week and Jarno Trulli thinks the car is running well and looks competitive. Trulli shookdown the car on the first two days, doing medium distance runs and initial system and set up checks, and lapped for around 500km. A technical problem hampered his second day but over all he was pleased with the results.

"I did the shakedown, the first two days, which is always a bit tricky because when you do the first two days you have plenty problems with the car," Trulli told the BBC. "But apart from that everything has been running well, especially in the next two days."

Teammate Fernando Alonso took over the wheel of the R24 for the last two days and set the fastest time on Friday. "Everything has been sorted. Fernando did a lot of laps and the car seemed pretty competitive straight away," Trulli added.

Pat Symonds, Renault's executive director of engineering, was also pleased with the first test: "This week, we have demonstrated the inherent reliability of our package, and I think that it is quite an achievement to complete 1300km in the first week running a new car," he said.

Renault runs on Michelin tyres and Alonso's fastest time on Friday was six tenths ahead of the Ferrari of Luca Badoer, which uses Bridgestones. Williams was a daunting presence at the test, Ralf Schumacher setting two consecutive lap records in the FW26.

BAR's Jenson Button also set a lap record after Ralf -- BAR made the switch from Bridgestone to Michelin for this season. Trulli thinks Ferrari will have a tough time in the tyre war.

"It's difficult to judge how much quicker the Michelins are, but they are quicker," he said. "I think Ferrari will have a tough time this year -- the same as last year."

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