Renault Jerez test notes 2004-07-14

Franck Montagny and RDD member Heikki Kovalainen in action for Renault today in Jerez.

Chassis programme
Kovalainen spent the day acclimatising to the car, and his first full F1 test session. He steadily improved his lap-times, and conducted set-up work towards the end of the day, giving good feedback.

Montagny conducted tyre testing for Hockenheim and Hungary, looking at compounds. The Frenchman also completed a ride programme, making small improvements.

Other information
Renault Driver Development programme member Heikki Kovalainen tested today, and will do so again on Friday, with Fernando Alonso running in this car on Thursday. The decision was taken to test Kovalainen in order to give the race drivers a break following the gruelling series of back-to-back races and tests in recent weeks.

Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer:

"We completed some useful work today in Jerez. Heikki had a small problem which delayed him this morning, but then settled quickly and made good improvements to his lap time, without any mistakes. He ran a very sensible first day, and gave interesting feedback on his programme. He did a good job."

"Franck spent the main part of his day tyre testing for the next races, but also continued looking at the ride of the car. We made some small improvements in this area, and Franck will pursue this further tomorrow."

Franck Montagny
Chassis: R24-05
117 laps, 517 km
Best time: 1:18.104

Heikki Kovalainen
Chassis: R24-04
66 laps, 292 km
Best time: 1:20.427

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