The Honda Racing F1 Team completed its final test of the 2006 Formula One season at the Jerez circuit in Spain today. An intensive fortnight which has seen six days of testing in Jerez has enabled the team to finalise its preparations for the remaining three races of the season in China, Japan and Brazil. The test programme this week concentrated on the evaluation of the tyres and engine specification for the last two races along with further chassis and electronic controls developments.
Anthony Davidson and James Rossiter began the test programme on Wednesday and spent the day focusing on tyre programmes to evaluate the options for the final race of the season in Brazil. Both drivers also ran through electronic systems checks and a short aero programme with Anthony completing 120 laps and James totalling 119 laps by the end of the day.
Jenson Button joined the team in Jerez on Thursday for his final test of the season, taking over from Anthony. Jenson and James began their running with short aero evaluations before focusing on further tyre work to evaluate the Brazil tyre options, along with electronic and suspension work. Both drivers completed 112 laps, with Jenson setting the fastest time of the day.
Heavy overnight rain meant that the circuit remained damp this morning which limited the dry running available to Jenson and Anthony, who rejoined the test for the final day. Anthony ran through a race start simulation alongside electronic systems work whilst Jenson completed a short aero run before having an early lunch. With the circuit fully dry, both drivers spent the afternoon continuing their tyre evaluation programme, followed by chassis set-up work in Anthony's car and a further aero test for Jenson. The day was then finished off with a series of race start simulations. Anthony completed 97 laps with Jenson covering 101 laps as he took the second engine of the week past its target mileage.
Jenson Button: "We have done some very useful work this week in preparation for the final three races. Yet again we have had good reliability and it was very pleasing to see the two engines reach their target mileage. Although it was very windy yesterday, we have got a lot of positive results from the three days and completed our planned programme of aero and tyre work. We were the very last team to end our test programme with Michelin and a big thank you to them and our test team. I'm looking forward to getting out to China now and hopefully getting some good results in the final three races of the season."
Anthony Davidson: "After working on the tyres for China last week, we spent this test focusing on the tyre options for the final race of the season in Brazil along with aero and electronic controls work. The conditions on Wednesday were difficult as it was very windy but we were still able to collect some good data and our times were competitive, particularly on the long runs. Although it was wet early on this morning, conditions today were much better. It's been a very good couple of weeks to round off testing for this season."
James Rossiter: "It has been another good test this week with excellent reliability from the car and engine so we could cover a lot of laps on both days. My
programme concentrated on evaluating the tyre options for the Brazil race and some electronics development work which saw some interesting results."
Mark Ellis - Chief Engineer Vehicle Performance: "We have had an extremely good test this week continuing the development of further performance improvements for the remaining races of the season. The strong winds on the first two days and overnight rain yesterday meant that we have had to tailor the test programme to suit the conditions but we have succeeded in completing our planned schedule. This includes signing off the new engine step planned for the Japanese Grand Prix, achieving well over the two race weekend mileage on two engines and a comprehensive tyre programme for Brazil. This week concludes our test programme for the 2006 season; everyone involved both at the track and the factories in Brackley and Tochigi has done a fantastic job this year in what has been our most productive programme to date. This week also marks our last test session in partnership with Michelin and we would like to thank them for their support over the past three seasons."
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