12/05/2006
NEWS STORY
Anthony Davidson was the quickest Michelin runner on the opening day of free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, sixth round of this year's Formula One world championship. Michelin drivers set the quickest three laps of the afternoon. Davidson's 1:16.533 put him fourth on aggregate, ahead of fellow Michelin drivers Robert Kubica, Robert Doornbos, Fernando Alonso, Christian Klien, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button.
Nick Shorrock, Michelin Formula One director: "The track has evolved rapidly throughout the day, although we haven't quite yet reached the level of performance that we have seen during some test sessions here. We have four different tyre compounds this weekend and the primes and options are very distinct – much more so than they have been at some recent events.
"So far we seem to be very strong in terms of performance and consistency, but we need to take a good, long look at this afternoon's long-run data before we make any definitive suggestions about tyre choice for the race.
"We also have to keep a wary eye on the weather, because showers are forecast this evening and that could put us back to square one tomorrow."
To check out our Barcelona practice gallery, click here