26/07/2007
NEWS STORY
Nurburgring points scorer Alexander Wurz gave his team a further confidence boost ahead of next week's Hungarian GP by posting the fastest time on the final day of testing at Jerez.
While media attention was focussed on events in Paris, eight drivers brought the three day test to a close in ideal conditions, with temperatures reaching 36 degrees C.
Wurz completed 87 laps on his way to posting the second quickest time of the week.
"The boys have also done a great job today," said test team manager, Dickie Stanford. "Despite a number of scheduled changes, they managed to keep the car out on track for nearly 90 laps.
"Overall the test has been really positive, the team have worked through an intensive programme and done extremely well to finish everything on time."
Second quickest was Robert Kubica in the BMW as the German team continued working on systems settings, which confirmed some of the findings from Wednesday. The German outfit finished early due to the completion of the engine mileage and having completed its scheduled programme in its entirety.
Pedro de la Rosa was third quickest, the Spaniard taking over from Lewis Hamilton as he concentrated on evaluating various new aerodynamic components. On his way to posting a best time of 1:20.220, the Spaniard completed 111 laps, making him the busiest driver today.
Rubens Barrichello continued his assessment of the new aero developments. He spent the early part of the morning finding a good set-up before running through the core programme. In the afternoon he worked on various mechanical set-up changes and further aerodynamic evaluations.
"This week's test has been quite a challenge because of the very intense heat," admitted the Brazilian, "but this is good preparation for me because I hear that this year's Hungarian Grand Prix will be the hottest on record. We have made a lot of set-up adjustments with the car to establish a good baseline and the mechanical and aero parts seem to be an improvement. I hope we have the basis for another small step forward next weekend."
"We have experienced three very productive days of testing," added Engineering Director, Jacky Eeckelaert. "The focus of our programme was preparing set-ups for the high downforce configuration of the Hungaroring circuit and putting new mechanical and aero parts through their paces. The car ran reliably throughout so we were able to complete a lot of running and we found a little more performance. Our new parts have now been signed-off and we look forward to seeing how they translate at the Hungarian Grand Prix."
Sebastien Buemi was back in the cockpit for Red Bull, following on from his day's testing on Tuesday. On the job sheet was aero and suspension development.
"It was a trouble free day and we got through all the high priority items" said Chief Test Engineer, Ian Morgan. "Sebastien did a good job, making no mistakes, achieving good lap times and providing useful feedback."
Following the impressive reliability of the first two days, Toyota's Jarno Trulli was forced to miss some of this morning's session after an oil leak. The team changed his engine and that ate into much of the early action when the track was at its quickest. The afternoon was more successful and the Italian ended up with a total of 70 laps of set-up, starts, suspension, brakes and aero work.
"The main thing to say about today was that it was so hot!" said the Italian. "When the asphalt is as hot as this it makes it difficult to get consistent data. Still, it was quite a positive day, we tried out various things in preparation for the next race in Hungary, which is likely to be just as hot and could be even hotter. We missed some track time in the morning due to an oil leak. There was no breakage but the problem required an engine change. That made for a busy afternoon but we carried out some useful work on starts, aero and set-up for the Hungaroring. In the end we made it through our planned 70 laps."
"Today started slowly for us because of the problem we had with an oil leak," admitted test team manager, Gerd Pfeiffer. "It started early in the day and though there was no breakage we changed the engine when the leak got too heavy. The afternoon was more positive and Jarno's programme was similar to yesterday's for Ralf. We carried out set-up and aero comparisons for the next grand prix in Hungary, along with suspension and starts. Overall this has been a good test and it's always important to run in hot conditions. This year's mileage restriction for testing means that there is no room for error. If you take the wrong direction with any testing you have no margin if you want to keep running at the end of the year. So we have to budget carefully for the laps we use. But this week has worked well and gone according to plan."
Contrary to previous plans, Heikki Kovalainen remained at the wheel of the Renault in order to complete the evaluation of aerodynamic components begun yesterday. He endured an interrupted day in the hot conditions, with a delay to the programme this morning following a gearbox problem, and an unscheduled engine change this afternoon. In spite of this he was able to complete the majority of the planned work for the day, and collected more valuable data.
"It is always frustrating when you have a stop-start day of testing," admitted the Finn, "but it was important to run this extra day and make progress with our development programme. In between the stoppages, we did some useful tests, and the data we have collected should allow us to carry on making progress as we try to improve the car even more ahead of the next races."
"First and foremost, immense credit goes to the mechanics today," said Christian Silk. "At the final test before the summer break, it would be easy to relax and take your eye off the ball, but they have shown even more dedication and commitment than usual this week, in particularly demanding conditions. We had planned to run Heikki during the morning and Nelsinho this afternoon, but our running today was interrupted by several mechanical issues. Although we successfully completed the test work we had planned to do with Heikki, it meant we unfortunately ran out of time for Nelson to take the wheel. In spite of this, we collected more good information for analysis back at the factory over the coming days."
Takuma Sato took over driving duties for Super Aguri. Whilst acclimatising himself to the track and conditions he completed a front aero test alongside a short electronic system check. During the extremely hot afternoon the Japanese driver ran through a comprehensive chassis set-up evolution before ending the day completing a number of race start simulations.
Apart from pre-race shakedowns, this test is the last prior to the one in Monza, which takes place on the 28 - 30 August, a week before the Italian Grand Prix.