Spanish GP Tyrrell preview

SPANISH GRAND PRIX - TYRRELL-YAMAHA May 24, 1996 - The Tyrrell-Yamaha team tested at Silverstone yesterday with one car handled by test and reserve driver Emman- uel Collard. the French driver drove 45 timed laps in dry condi- tions and set a best lap time of 1:29.9. ``I am very satisfied with my second run in the 024,'' Collard said. ``I am now more comfortable in the cockpit even though we need to finalize some details. ``Run after run we improved the balance of the car. We also worked on the brakes and continued to practice starts and pit stops. We tested new front steering geometries, new front suspen- sion parts for Spain and got very positive results. The full day went well and the team atmosphere is really good.'' Harvey Postlethwaite, Managing Director - Engineering said: ``We had an excellent session with Emmanual. This is the first time he has driven the car in anger and a 1:29.9 is very competi- tive. He seemed to achieve this level of performance very easily. ``He set up the car quickly and more importantly, he settled well with the team. We are looking forward to giving him more testing opportunities this year. His technical input was succinct and clear and he'd certainly merit a place in Formula One.'' On the Spanish Grand Prix, Postlethwaite added: ``After the lottery at Monaco it will be nice to go back to a proper motor racing circuit. Barcelona is a modern and safe track, technically challenging requiring a consistent driver input and a good chas- sis set-up. ``We are going to Barcelona with new components in the chassis department and Yamaha has also made some improvements on the engine. Our aim is to maintain our level of competitiveness even though I still feel we have yet to see the full potential of our package this year.'' Mika Salo: ``I am looking forward to going to Spain because we have some interesting new developments on the car and the engine and we should be even more competitive. ``I like the circuit because it is quite technical and fast. I am confident we can confirm at Barcelona the strong progress made by the team and it would be good to score several points again - four would be a nice figure.'' Ukyo Katayama: ``It's good to go back to a proper circuit after the chicanes of Imola and the walls of Monaco. I didn't like the Catalunya track the first time I went there, but I enjoy very much the layout. It's got some fast and challenging corners; it's hard physically and you need to be fit if you want to push hard during the race.'' Mike Gascoyne, Deputy Technical Director: ``Barcelona is one of the most interesting modern circuits. There are some difficult medium to high speed corners combined with a long straight and some overtaking opportunities. ``Cars will run reasonably high downforce, but it's obvious- ly a trade off between downforce and speed on the straights. ``The two last corners are medium to high speed but a good exit is crucial to be able to overtake on the start/finish straight. The tarmac is good and not too bumpy and the 024 should handle well as we have some good modifications and new parts for the race.'' Circuit de Catalunya length: 4.727 kms. Laps: 65 - 307.114 kms.

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